By Lynn Crosby
February 22, 2026
BURLINGTON, ON
I have delegated a few times, essentially on four topics: the undemocratic strong mayor powers; issues around development; the need for responsible fiscal management; and citizen engagement.
For this resident, the answer is a resounding NO, and I expect that I am in the majority.
I’m here today because this one agenda item covers each of these. I’ll begin with engagement because it’s pretty much a fluke that I’m here today at all. Normally, I can’t be on a random Tuesday in the daytime, as residents who are working or attending school can’t be, but by chance, I was free today. If council cares about real engagement, they should not have cancelled evening council meetings. Further, in what seems to be too common, this matter was rushed through to the extent that the vast majority of citizens would not know enough (if anything) about it to come and delegate on it today anyway, and certainly would not have had time to spend their Family Day weekend in preparation. I’m here because I happened to see something about it in the media on Friday. By that time, it was already too late to register to delegate by the deadline. I happen to be among a small minority who knows that I can register late and may still get to speak; most would not know this. It’s the oldest trick in the book to release news one might not want the public to notice just before a long weekend.
This is an extremely important issue, at a cost of almost $100 Million over two years, and it is unacceptable for council to not have supported Councillor Nisan’s request last Tuesday to delay this decision for two months. He explained well his rationale: that this time would allow for staff and council to do fulsome research, and it would allow for the gathering of opinions and feedback from residents. Oh yes! residents, remember us? Do residents think that we should be the ones helping developers increase their profits? Well since you haven’t given us time to answer, I guess you can’t say. For this resident, the answer is a resounding NO, and I expect that I am in the majority.
I don’t believe there is any justification for developers to be bailed out of their obligations and costs of doing business. If the market isn’t giving them enough profits for their liking, then they can stop building and sit on their investment until it turns around or they can reassess what it is the public actually wants and needs, and build those things instead. More expensive towers on Burlington’s waterfront for example, sped up now thanks to the Mayor’s direction, do nothing to provide the affordable housing and the types of housing that families and young people want and need. It is not on municipalities or citizens to solve the complex issues surrounding the housing crisis, but it sure is used as a great excuse by the development industry and by governments who decide for various reasons that they wish to help them “build build build, anywhere and everywhere.”
Being the first municipality to make a hugely expensive mistake isn’t a precedent one should want to set.
I’m gobsmacked that any of you think it is acceptable to transfer this financial obligation onto an already overburdened taxpayer, particularly in these times where so many are in dire straits. And whether this magical provincial and federal funding materializes or doesn’t – certainly you don’t know whether it will or won’t in the end – I will remind you again there is only ONE taxpayer so that all comes from us too. Regardless, it is irresponsible to hand over our money and hope that other levels of government may pay it all back. And can we be honest enough to not call it a freeze? A freeze signifies that the rate charged last week won’t be increased for two years. It doesn’t mean their charges have been wiped out completely.
More misleading language. There are many other municipalities which have exceeded their housing targets without waiving development charges. Being the first municipality to make a hugely expensive mistake isn’t a precedent one should want to set. Every dollar of OURS that you hand to the developers is not only one less dollar in the pockets of taxpayers: it’s much worse than that. It’s one less dollar that could instead be being spent on far more important things, and that is the same whether we are talking about municipal, provincial or federal dollars. The consequences are huge and cannot be summed up by staff members producing a rushed report at the request of their strong mayor, who holds the power to hire and fire senior staff, I might add.
While I’m not surprised the mayor has used her powers in this manner, I’m appalled that she has.
That leads me to the undemocratic strong mayor powers which no mayor should accept, let alone use, ever. While I’m not surprised the mayor has used her powers in this manner, I’m appalled that she has. There’s an old saying about how even the appearance of a conflict of interest is one which must be avoided. A similar concept holds true for a strong mayor having unilateral power over staff members to which she gives directions. The public can never actually trust that the staff members are telling us what they believe or what they feel that they need to say they believe. This is as unfair to them as it is to the public. It’s one reason the powers should not exist.
In closing, it is disrespectful to your council colleagues and especially Councillor Nisan for the Mayor to have used the powers and gone over their heads. It is disrespectful to citizens that this is being done in a way where we are not being properly informed, and are not given the opportunity to be heard, and in which even the most basic standards of engagement seem to have been bypassed. It is disrespectful to put the onus on staff to rush through and produce reports in unnecessarily tight timeframes. It is disrespectful to every other business owner in Burlington whose profits are likely also waning in today’s economy that you’ve decided to bail out big developers with “deep pockets” as Mayor Meed Ward was fond of calling them. So please spare us the talk about respect. Respect is a two-way street.
Editor’s note: In 2018 Lynn Crosby served as Mayor Meed Ward’s driver, driving her from event to event and picking up coffee for the two of them.
Well said along with Rory Nissan’s (sic) letter to the editor in todays (Feb 24) Spectator. Thankfully we have an election coming up.
I am so pleased Lynn that you had the chance to delegate on this important issue, it is beyond comprehension that the Mayor and council are even considering this is at it is180 degrees contrary to the founding principle of the Development Changes Act.
When all you have is a hammer as the saying goes everything looks like a nail. And in this case the only tool the Mayor seems to know is more taxes on existing residents.
The housing issue is not systemic only to Burlington, it’s across the country. The root cause is therefore a national one, high immigration, money printing and weak Canadian dollar both of which makes construction costs near or more expensive than the price of existing homes – hence development stalls.
So, as long as more immigration is not controlled, and not brought back to pre-2014 levels, investment does not come back into Canada (continued weakening of our dollar) and the federal government runs big deficits, this problem will continue and a bail out to developers will only be a preverbal finger in a leaky dam.
The delegation by Mike Collins Williams covered the root cause – new building costs are too expensive. Why? Building materials are priced in USD for the most part. Expansion of our money supply (M2) weakens the buying power of the Canadian dollar. Our labour rates are high, they need to be because of inflation. We have lots of regulations, more costs, simple things like our non-sense tree policy all add cost.
We have an industrial carbon tax, steel, aluminum, lumber, cement, shingles, transportation, most things that go into building are more expensive because of this tax, then at every point in the supply chain this added tax gets margined up over and over.
This problem took five to 10 years to manifest itself through bad policy decisions, so unless our Mayor and Council want to understand the root cause, what is proposed will not even work, not to mention being undemocratic to put it kindly.
So impressed with this!! Thank you so much, Lynn, for fighting so eloquently for my hometown that I miss and love.
Lynn Crosby was Mayor Meed Ward’s Campain manager for the October 2018 election! Please correct your information. How times have changed with MMW at the helm.
Lynn was not MMW’s driver in 2018 – that was my husband Paul. I was the sign Maven and the date square Grand Supremo. Lynn was the Campaign Manager. She was a Jack of All Trades, and fortunately for MMW, Master of them as well. I’m not sure where the coffee thing comes in but we all drank too much of the Meed Ward Koolaid.
Will someone explain to me about the developers’ fees. Didn’t Doug Ford pass those fees over to taxpayers already? Are there also such fees under the local government so the developers get more breaks.?
I would like to ask all of Counsel if any of them feels even a wince of conscience regarding their Oath of Office promises, if and when they vote to approve this multi-million gift of residents tax money, to the undoubtedly richest people in Burlington who are all developers. Even worse, they do not need the money.
Do any of them have any property interest that will benefit from this gift? I really want to ask them all if they will publicly announce, that as a gesture of good faith, they will refuse to accept any developer election campaign donations in the upcoming election.
Do any of Counsel even think that the average informed citizen taxpayer here think what is going on here is okay, and don’t think there are any bias benefits at work.
Like Lynn said, even if there are no actual conflicts at work, just the appearance of a conflict is enough to be one.
Well said, couldn’t agree more!
Good morning Lynn
A great presentation! I agree with everything you have said 100%, and strong mayor powers should not be in use. Lynn you speak for almost all of us and it is much appreciated to have your voice. The mayor needs to consider all the home owners and tax payers who are slowly being taxed out of their homes. Thank you once again for your voices and comments.
Regards
Elizabeth Swart
Given the quality of the information in this delegation and in many others in Ms. Crosby’s past interactions with the City and in this forum, I would imagine her role in the 2018 mayoralty campaign was definitely above and beyond the level of driver and coffee provider noted by the “Editor’s note”. I thank her for being willing to continually keep the best interests of Burlington residents in her sight and to speak publicly about it so eloquently. We need to value her contributions, not mock them.
Dear Editor:
With regards to your editor’s note found at the bottom of Lynn’s delegation article
“Editor’s note: In 2018 Lynn Crosby served as Mayor Meed Ward’s driver, driving her from event to event and picking up coffee for the two of them.”
I wish you to correct it, as you are wrong in your summation and you have dumbed down and diluted her brilliant work on the 2018 campaign.
Having personally, volunteered on the 2018 Campaign Team for Marianne, Lynn’s OFFICIAL TITLE was CAMPAIGN MANAGER and what a leader she was in that role and still is in our Burlington and Halton Community as you know!
Her 24/7 involvement with the very strong, very tightly-knit and organized Campaign Team AND with Burlingtonians, along with her strategizing, led the Team to Marianne’s victory.
She did it without pay or reimbursements for the things she bought for the campaign. Lynn did it all for the LOVE of Burlington, which can be seen with her current principled and passionate delegations.
An apology is owed.
Thank you for your comment.I interviewed Marianne Meed Ward in her campaign office.
They were late for the interview.
Lynn Crosbie was in the room when the interview took place.
I’ve known Lynn Crosbie for some time, many confidential conversations took place about the lives we’ve lived, the ups and the downs.
I was not told that Lynn was the campaign manager.
She didn’t tell me she was the campaign manager.
The coffee comment came from a remark made to me that Lynn always bought the coffee.
We published Lynn’s delegation because it was worth publishing.
If you feel a slighted Lynn I will of course apologize – that was not my intention.
An excellent presentation by Lynn Crosby.
Thank you Lynn for your insightful and bang on analysis Well said
I totally agree with Lynn. Well said!
Wonderful presentation! Many thanks for all the time and effort that was put into this response to a poorly thought out idea.
Agree 100 %
Lynn’s delegation hit so many ‘nails on the head’. Let’s hope those on Council who were there listened and heard what she said. Lynn speaks for many, many residents who, due to obligations, are unable to meet the restrictions to delegate themselves. Council should take this into account when they consider how they will vote and just who they will support.
The principal and historical meaning of the word “fulsome” is “excessively or insincerely lavish”. I don’t thin that’s the type of research the author intended.
I’m surprised that the best comeback you could choose to this delegation is to pick on one word used. My research shows fulsome means “encompassing all aspects and comprehensive” which I am sure Lynn intended and most citizens would have understood.
Lynn put a lot of thought and research in her delegation and I appreciate what she delivered. After observing the whole meeting until 2 p.m., I decided to write my own response to the DC “temporary pause” and send it to all members of Council for use in the March 2nd meeting as my written delegation.
I’d advise every citizen who disagrees with this proposal to do the same, and make it a fulsome email.
I believe the word “thin” refers to something less abundant or generous than “fulsome”. Something to “think” about.