By Eric Stern

June 14th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

Just say no to spending.

When it comes to the budgeting process at city hall a good analogy would be to compare the budget to a key lime pie.

Politicians dole out pieces of the pie based on their vision and community needs. Parks need a medium-sized slice, transit needs a big slice. The pie is only so big. You can increase the size of the pie by increasing taxes. In most jurisdictions, sadly not Burlington, making the pie bigger becomes a challenge. People tend not to like tax increases.

In Burlington, our elected politicians have a different approach.

Expanding the pie is easy, the city puts out confusing communications about the tax rate increase, then increases taxes by as much as they ”need”. Mayor Meed Ward has already started filling her social media releases with “information”, using the term loosely, on the 2025 budget.

“Staff are predicting a total tax increase of 5.5%, of which the City’s portion would be 4.5%”

The city finance department’s presentation to the city council on Monday, June 10^th, 2024, a scant five days ago, included the numbers the mayor is quoting but also clearly stated the city budget needs to increase by 8.9%.

During the June 10 and 11 “Committee of the Whole” meeting, our council unanimously voted to accept the city’s staff recommendation of an 8.9% increase for 2025.

This council was elected in 2022. Set out below are the increases each year along with the increases as a Cumulative number.

If this increase goes through the result will be for every $100 in property taxes you paid in 2022 look forward to paying $138.72 in 2025.

Has the council adopted the motto “never say no” to additional spending?   Has this council taken the position that when you need to hand out more money you simply make the pie bigger?

Two recent delegations made it very clear that there is a very unhappy public out there.

But eventually, when you have an economy like this, they start to understand, because they’re on a fixed budget, somebody lost their job, they might be getting older, and all of a sudden, 10.21% resonates. “It’s resonating in Millcroft. Let me tell you, it’s resonating in 14 holes. It’s resonating at pickleball. I’m coming here today, and I guess I timed it right, because I had some time and the budget was on the agenda today.

The end result was that the 10.2% increase remained the same despite the cost savings motions that were passed. It was clear to me that there was absolutely no intent in trying to reduce resident’s property taxes despite the public outcry for prudence.

Council operates in a vacuum. People who want something attend council meetings and delegate. Much of what our councillors see is a constant stream of people coming to meetings holding out tin cups.

Policies are in place to make it easier to say no, for example, the Community Development Fund and its fee waiver policy.

This policy states one-time multi-year (up to 3 years) funding is available for non-profits. Another policy for charities allows them to claim back 40% of their property taxes (annually).

Some examples from 2024 delegations.

Burlington Green, a registered charity, received $62,000 for yet-to-be-defined work that Burlington Green will perform for the city. This funding has been built into the city budget and is now an annual expense.

Team Burlington, a non-profit, funded by for-profit businesses, received a 20% rent reduction. Team Burlington consists of The Burlington Chamber of Commerce, the Burlington Downtown Business Association, Tourism Burlington and the Economic Development Corporation. This rent reduction, if approved, will be built into the budget and become an annual expense. Team Burlington’s financial statements have been published in the Gazette. The limited publicly available information makes it impossible to determine where the Chamber spends its money, why the Chamber needs assistance, or why our council agreed to assist.

Is it time for the city council to stop building spending commitments into the budget and start saying no?

Recent delegations:

Doreen Sebben

Lydia Thomas

By Plan B

May 22, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

After 10 days of OLT hearings held from April 29^th to May 17^th, including examinations and cross-examinations of ten expert witnesses, supported by 7000 pages of testimonies replete with projections and schematics and layers & layers of policies, it comes down to this; a decision by one OLT Member to either Reject Vrancor’s appeal of Burlington’s refusal decision of their application (i.e. “No”), or to Approve it with Conditions (i.e. “Yes, but”)

Are you still tracking on these double negatives with us?  Okay!

The most recent design has the two towers a little further apart and no bridge between the buildings.

We at Citizens’ PLAN B monitored most of the proceedings and are optimistic that the OLT will decide “No”.  Why?

The arguments brought forward by the City of Burlington and The Pearle Hotel were superior, and presented in a compelling fashion, such as:

1. 

   Different views of the lake from various locations in the Pearle Hotel.

   Proposed conveyance of land remnants unacceptable to the City as useful Parkland

2. Wind impact fails Burlington’s comfort and safety guidelines
3. All transitions of the site to the Park are imposed on City property
4. Traffic related to service vehicles, and hotel guests drop off/ pickup & otherwise searching for parking spots has not been accommodated
5. Lake views, particularly from The Pearle have not been preserved, as is possible

In our opinion, there are far too many shortfalls, inconsistencies and outright problems with this Application for the OLT to approve it.

• The lawyers & expert witnesses for Vrancor were less balanced in their positions and thereby less credible.
• Their lawyers dwelt on narrow legal issues, cherry-picking from often inconsistent old and new City, Regional & Provincial guidelines and policies to make their arguments
• They took a “so what?” approach to the Urban Growth Centre and the  Major Transit Station Areas no longer being downtown, replacing it with a one-dimensional “Intensification First” mantra
• Most of their Expert witnesses appeared to “oversell” their positions

Renderings of what the streetscape along Lakeshore could look like,

At the hearing, Vrancor effectively signalled their intention to seek an alternate “Yes, but” ruling.  By this, we mean that the OLT would support the Appeal, on the condition that there were Holding Provisions that Darko Vranich, owner of the property, would have to resolve with the City and The Pearle before the Appeal was decided; all outstanding issues would have to have been settled.  We consider a “Yes, but” decision to be problematic, given the extent of the resultant changes that would likely be required to the design and Vrancor’s historical intransigence and that this Application’s approval is just too important to Burlington to be negotiated behind “closed doors”.

We therefore strongly support a “No” decision, accompanied by OLT guidance to the Applicant on preparing a new & improved design, worthy of a speedy approval by City planners.

The OLT is expected to rule in 4+ months.

Stay tuned!

By Staff

May 13^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

Is summer here yet?  How do you know?

Because starting on the 18^th – you will have to pay for parking at the Beachway.

The City is expecting more visitors to its popular Beachway Park – they will have to pay for parking; including the overflow lot at Lakeshore Road and Willow Avenue.

Summer in the City

Fees will be charged from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends and holidays until the last weekend in September: Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024.

Parking fees can be paid using the HONK mobile app. Visitors do not have to download the app but can scan the QR code on parking lot signage to pay for parking.

Weekend and holiday parking is available for an hourly rate of $2.50 or a daily flat rate of $20. There is a transaction fee of $0.35 for each payment. Dashboard tickets are not needed as every payment is linked to a license plate number.

Halton residents have 10 days of free parking per year at Beachway Park.

Residents should wait to fill out the parking exemption form once they’ve arrived at the beach and parked in a legal parking spot. The exemption doesn’t guarantee a spot, but it does give residents parking for the day at no charge.

With this much beach – you know there is going to be a significant need for parking.

There is no charge for parking in most municipal lots in Downtown Burlington on weekends and holidays. Beachway visitors are encouraged to extend their walk or use the drop-off zone, park for free in the downtown and meet their party at the beach.  Consider taking Burlington Transit, cycling, walking or rolling to the beach and leave the car at home.

Illegally parked vehicles will be issued tickets and/or towed. Drivers are reminded not to park illegally, especially on Lakeshore Road shoulders and the grass boulevard over the pipeline: they will be towed.

Charging for parking has improved parking and traffic flow since it was introduced in 2021. If you are planning to visit the Beachway, plan ahead and prepare to park in another location if the lots are full. Please make sure you are parked in a legal parking spot. City bylaw officers must ticket and tow those parked illegally to help manage parking and traffic flow. Most importantly, this keeps everyone safe.

There is also an overflow lot west of the Beachway. It has 30 more parking spots in an unsurfaced lot. Visitors using this overflow lot need to pay for parking and the fees are the same as the Beachway lots.”

By Staff

May 1st, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

Ontario Exploring Options to Reduce Electricity Rates for Public EV Chargers.  New electricity rate would help get chargers built in more communities across the province

Ontario’s Minister of Energy, Todd Smith, has asked the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) to explore options for an Electric Vehicle Charger Discount Electricity Rate as the province continues to support the adoption of electric vehicles (EV). A new rate would reduce the cost of electricity for public EV chargers in areas where demand for the service is only beginning to emerge, making charging infrastructure more economical in more communities and giving Ontario drivers the confidence they need to transition to electric vehicles.

“With more than 150,000 electric vehicles already on the roads in Ontario, we’re continuing to look at new ways to increase the number of public chargers – including reducing electricity rates for chargers in areas where electric vehicle usage is just beginning to emerge,” said Minister Smith. “This is another step we are taking to give drivers in every part of our province, including rural Ontario, the confidence to transition to electric vehicles, and take advantage of our growing, world-class clean grid.”

The new normal for parking lots. Another place to spend

Under existing rules, public EV charging stations in areas with low EV adoption rates can be expensive to operate as they experience sharp peaks in demand when an EV is charged, but they still incur costs when they are not used for most of the day. Electric vehicle charging stations predicted to have low utilization are either not built or operate at a loss, giving rise to charging accessibility concerns.

A new electricity rate would support electric vehicle adoption across the province by reducing the electricity costs for charging infrastructure where demand is only beginning to emerge, making them more economical. Starting this month, the Ontario Energy Board will conduct public consultations on a new Electric Vehicle Charger Discount Rate with the intent of making the new rate available to public EV charging providers by January 1, 2026.

“We’re making it easier to own an EV by filling gaps in public charging infrastructure,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation. “Today’s announcement highlights important work to support EV uptake outside of large urban centres and transition Ontario to a sustainable, low-carbon transportation system.”

This initiative is part of the government’s larger plan to support the adoption of electric vehicles and make EV charging infrastructure more accessible, which includes:

• • • The EV ChargeON program – a $91 million investment to support the installation of public EV chargers outside of Ontario’s large urban centres, including at community hubs, Ontario’s highway rest areas, carpool parking lots and Ontario Parks.
    • The new Ultra-Low Overnight price plan, which allows customers who use more electricity at night, including those charging their EV, to save up to $90 per year by shifting demand to the ultra-low overnight rate period when province wide electricity demand is lower.
    • Making it more convenient for electric vehicle owners to travel the province with EV fast chargers now installed at all 20 renovated EnRoute stations along the province’s busiest highways, the 400 and 401.

“With $43 billion in new electric vehicle and EV battery manufacturing investments in Ontario’s auto sector over the last several years, our government is working to improve access to public charging infrastructure to support drivers who are making the transition to electric vehicles,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “Making electricity rates more affordable, especially in areas with emerging EV demand will be integral as we continue to build a fully integrated end-to-end EV supply chain across our province.”

Fast EV charging stations at EnRoute stops on 400 level highways.

The initiative also builds on the government’s Driving Prosperity: The Future of Ontario’s Automotive Sector plan to create a domestic EV battery ecosystem in the province and position Ontario as a North American automotive innovation hub by working to support the continued transition to electric, low carbon, connected and autonomous vehicles.

“This rate aims to fairly allocate costs and better support the efficient integration of EVs in Ontario,” said Susanna Zagar, CEO of the OEB. “This is another way the OEB is enabling and advancing Ontario’s clean energy advantage. We look forward to hearing from electricity distributors, EV charging service providers and other stakeholders to inform this work as we strive to solve energy challenges effectively and meet the demands of the energy transition.”

Quick Facts

• The new retail transmission service rate, if approved, would be available to public EV charging stations with low utilization, between 50kW and 4,999 kW.
• If approved by the Ontario Energy Board, local distribution companies would begin offering the rate to public EV charging providers beginning January 1, 2026.
• As of March 2024, there are more than 150,000 EVs registered in Ontario, including both battery-electric vehicles (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). By 2030, there are expected to be more than one million EVs on the road in Ontario.

By Staff

April 24th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

We want to point out to readers that the content of this article was lifted from Joey Coleman’s x item.  Coleman appears to be upset, saying we “ripped” the content from his x article.  Coleman took the words from Hassaan Basit’s book which wasn’t something Coleman wrote.  Coleman gets credit for covering Hamilton like a blanket.  Does an ego have to get in the way of his solid work?

Hassaan Basit, Burlington’s newly minted City Manager wrote a chapter in The Role of Canadian City Managers, edited by Michael Fenn, a former Burlington City Manager.

City Manager Hassaan Basit one 20 authors writing about serving as a City Manager.

Basit and co-author Patrick Moyle, who was an interim Burlington City Manager, write that the first 100 days are when a new city manager reveals their plans, personality, and management style, all of which will answer questions about how they will lead as the city’s top public employee.

“It will be a time when first impressions take on considerable importance as council and staff assess what they really have in their new leader.”

The new city manager must “present the most positive impression possible based on a thoughtful plan” during this time.

Don’t Make Sudden Moves During the First 100 Days – Wait a Few Months

Basit and Moyle write new city managers should not implement significant reorganizations of municipal administration.

“The biggest mistake and the most sudden move that some new [city managers] make is to implement the dreaded reorganization without taking the time to understand relationships and dependencies within and across departments.”

City Manager Hassaan Basit starting his networking attends an event with City Councillors and Minister of Municipal Affairs. Basit is second from the right.

“To be clear, changes to structure and the people within that structure might need to occur, but you must do this correctly and prudently. The first three to six months is simply not sufficient time to understand the culture,”

They cite other books that show the “gunslinger” approach to change management does not work in municipal government.

Successful city managers know “how to manage change successfully by understanding and respecting the local culture and by thinking rationally and deliberately. They were not prone to making sudden moves.”

Build Networks and Relationships

“The first 100 days should involve the building of three networks, two external and one internal to the organization.”

They state new city managers should seek out more experienced city managers in other municipalities for advice, they should create relationships with “community leaders, such as successful business people in the community, academics, and leaders from the not-for-profit sector, including organized community groups.”

New managers should be in the community, meet with major employers, and avoid becoming trapped inside a City Hall bubble.

They need to meet front-line municipal staff.

“It is imperative that, during the first 100 days, you, as the new CAO, get out of your corner office and meet the employees who deliver the services. The interface between the taxpayer and the municipality is not the CAO, but the civic employee who collects the taxes at the counter, issues the building permit, works in the local arena, ploughs and maintains the roads, drives the transit bus, and so on.”

Be Visible

There is much mystery, uncertainty, and drama during the first 100 days, said Basit. Don’t expect to see him in his office.

“There is much mystery, uncertainty, and drama during the first 100 days, so be visible. If you remain bunkered down in your office or get pulled into the vortex of meetings and processes, the potential for angst and uncertainty increases proportionally to the time spent in your well appointed office. If you are invisible, your persona and personal brand might be developed and defined by others.”

They suggest new managers visit outside facilities “especially those that have been identified in the capital budget forecast” to learn about municipal operations and hear from front-line staff. This will improve decision making.

Find Quick Wins

“There will be an expectation that the new leader will bring positive change and strive to improve the organization. Early wins, therefore, will help solidify your reputation, confirm that council made the right choice, and demonstrate to staff how you go about making decisions.”

Evaluate Existing Senior Leadership

In keeping with their opening advice to not make significant changes during the first six months as city manager, Basit and Moyle describe the first 100 days as “an opportunity to assess the senior leaders” both formally and informally.

New city managers need to determine the state of municipal leadership – is it functioning well or dysfunctional?

By the end of the first 100 days, a city manager “should be able to form a picture of the strengths and weaknesses” of senior leadership.

Relationships

Basit and Moyle close their chapter with this paragraph:

“The first several months will set the stage for the balance of time you work for the community. A successful first impression can lead to a lasting and positive effect if you have an entry plan, together with the energy and commitment to lead your staff and be of service to council and the community.”

It will be interesting to see how closely Basit follows his own script.

By Pepper Parr

April 16^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

Drawing attention to myself is not one of my strengths said Tim Commisso as he spoke to Council for the last time.

He had a 20 year career with the city, then a good stretch of time in Thunder Bay, his home town and returned to serve as the City Manager for five years  “which has been the culmination of everything” he said.

“If you’d told me I’d be the city manager for the best city in Canada, I’d never believed you.

I grew up in a small northern Ontario town, Pickle Lake and that’s at the end of the road.

He went on to say “thank you to my counsel” with more emotion one has come to expect from Tim

I  respect the fact that you had discussions today with me that were obviously near and dear to my heart. One of the principles I adhere to is to make the tough decisions, have the tough debates in open session at counsel.”

“The suggestion that something should be named in my honour  – I’m not interested in naming anything – there may be a rumour going around that I might get a temporary naming of the parking lot, which in two years, you can rip out because it’s going to be redeveloped.

Tim fondly remembers Lisa Kearns calling him the big cheese in front of some sixty people.

“I want to thank Council for facilitating a seamless transition for a new city manager.

“A lot of times you’ll see acting or interim City Manager. I want to talk about a bit about next Monday when Hasaan will be sitting in this seat whenever you guys meet again.  I am  really impressed quite frankly with the decision you made to have him come on.

“I’ve been working with him for a couple of months. He’s given me his time and met  with senior staff. We’ve spent a lot of time going through transition items. He will do very well and I wish him nothing but the best moving forward.

Tim closed with a remark I didn’t expect. “After 42 years, I’ll quote Neil Young’s “Comes a time”.  I don’t like saying I live my life through rock and roll but that song kind of epitomizes everything for me.

Comes a time when you’re driftin’

Comes a time when you settle down

Comes a light, feelings liftin’

Lift that baby right up off the ground

Oh, this old world keeps spinnin’ ’round

It’s a wonder, tall trees ain’t layin’ down

There comes a time

You and I, we were captured

We took our souls and we flew away

We were right, we were giving

That’s how we kept what we gave away.

No, Tim didn’t sing those lyrics but he was clearly feeling them as he spoke to a Council that he guided and in five cases mentored and help them grow into the job.

Tim Commisso: His practice was to think it through.

Tim wanted the public to understand that everybody on the leadership team, compared to five years ago is new.  “That’s 19 people. I want that to resonate with you because it is a reflection of the fact that we’ve been able to attract or promote the senior leadership team.”

“It’s the reality of my era, everyone has probably retired, but you’ve got a very strong team; a group of about 70 staff. A lot of them, I would say 85% of them, are new in their roles over the last five years. People like Emilie Cote who was here today:  you know, five years ago, she was maybe a supervisor. What you’ve got is really a talented team. The reason I’ve really enjoyed working with all of you is it really comes down to two reasons.

Adieu!

“One is their passion and compassion. Passion is the unrelenting desire to fulfill your own wishes that drives you. And I always look at it as drive in the context of doing better for the city?

“The other one, and this is as important for me, is your desire to help others. That, quite frankly, has been the primary motivating thing people ask sometimes, like, how do you do this job? It’s because you align yourself with people that have both compassion, and passion. And ultimately, the outcome is building a great community.

“I think I’ve covered the bases here. I just want to say this is pretty surreal, but it is real. So thank you very much.  I will leave it at that Mayor.

Council began to applaud and then as a group they stood and continued to applaud.

I’ve had my issues with Tim and he has had his with me.  He has served the people of Burlington very well.  Much of his work is evident today – what people will realize a decade from now is that he was right, very right, far more often than he was wrong.

By Pepper Parr

April 10^th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

During the two day Council meeting Chris Kroes, Manager, Health, Safety & Wellness reported on Employee Health, Safety and Wellness.  Not much in the way of good news in the document.

Disturbing was the number of public to staff harassment complaints.

There were 58 such reports in 2023 – that’s more than 1 a week.  Of the 58 – 17 required a staff member being away from work.  The 17 lost time incidents in 2023; was up from 10 in 2022

The city is a self-insured employer. What this means is the city does not pay insurance premiums but rather pays for all injury and illness costs plus a WSIB administration fee to administer the claims.

Based on some feedback from senior leaders the City introduced a mechanism for senior leaders to be notified if a WSIB incident occurs in their service area. This allows them to be aware of it and to inquire with their groups. We’ve enhanced our corrective action process for better tracking, trending and ultimately to ensure completion of those corrective actions to ensure that we prevent re-occurrence.

Chris Kroes was reporting on the 2023 Human Resources report said:

“It is important for City Council to have an awareness of Employee Health, Safety and Wellness matters.

“In recent years, we’ve been tracking incidents of harassment and violence more closely. We have successfully increased reporting and follow up on these incidents; this supports compliance with the Occupational Safety Act.

A “citizen” getting something off his chest at a public meeting. Former Mayor Rick Goldring and a now retired staff member Vito had put up with it.

“In 2023, there were 58 incidents reported: a note – this is public to staff interactions and does not include staff to staff cases, that’s handled separately and not tracked here.”

City Manager Tim Commisso later added that 17 of the 58 became lost time incidents.

A general review of the data suggests that around 79% are categorized as harassment in nature, and the majority are verbal interactions. 24% of incidents involve some form of violence.

Kroes continues: “The work done by the legal and clerk’s departments on new public conduct policy has also provided for consistency in dealing with misconduct. It should be noted that management of corporate security has been identified as a resource gap city wide and we are looking to make improvements in this area to ensure risks are adequately mitigated to keep staff and the public safe and secure.

Chair Nisan:  Thank you, Chris for your diligent work keeping us safe. Mayor Mead Ward has a question.

Mayor Meed Ward:  ”I’m very concerned and startled by that number of 58.  I want to clarify that number and follow up

Chris:  “Yes, these are members of public to the staff. That’s the interaction types. We do have a relatively low threshold of reporting, which is which is by it that’s done intentionally and it’s based on our customer service guidelines. Those incidents are members of the public to city staff and there was 58 of those reported.”

Mayor: Can you give us an indication are these and some with violence, which is really terrifying and my heart goes out to anyone who’s experienced that it’s completely unacceptable. So are some of these online harassment or would all of this be? I mean is some of it email? Is it verbal? Or a mix?

Chris: It includes any type of interaction that sort of falls within the customer service guidelines would generally say level two or level two or level three of the customer service guidelines.

Staff who work behind the counters at City Hall are the front line people that are experiencing rising levels of personal abuse.

So those interactions could be in person they could be over the phone that could be via email, just incidents that are conduct that’s harassing in nature. And again, it’s a relatively low reporting threshold and not all of them may actually meet that strict definition in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

But they are reporting and we are ensuring that there’s adequate follow up and that our eyes are on it from health, safety and wellness as well, to make sure those employees are supported through that interaction.

I will point out that we also focus on how the employee feels after that interaction. So it you know, someone may not have intended something but as we know that that’s not always how it’s received by staff. So again, it’s our primary focus is to look at how they’re feeling and ensuring they’re supported after those incidents.

City Manager Tim Commisso: This is the fourth year we’ve reported out on our safety.  I’m really trying to come to grips with this. I do want to thank Council though, over the last five years for adding more human resources particularly around safety and wellness.

Relative to the number of interactions we have given the work we do every day this is still relatively low, but we will strive to keep that lower. This year, we didn’t do an update on staff turnover. We still have a relatively low turnover level across the organization. And in our management team, our objective is 5% and I’m just waiting to hear back on those numbers.

Mayor Meed Ward: “”I’m very concerned and startled by that number of 58.”

Mayor:  With respect to our front line staff customer facing who may be facing some of us harassment that showed up on the last slide. Do you think there may be more measures that we could take to mitigate reduce that are there some practical steps that you would be able to look into to bring back to us that we might be able to endorse to ensure that we provide excellent customer service, but that we protect our staff at the same time?

Chris:  I think there’s I think it’s a multifaceted approach and it’s based on an assessment of each individual work area, customer facing work area to make sure that they have the training they need in terms of being able to de-escalate and, and sort of, you know, mitigate those interactions from going you know, to a point where it poses a hazard.

Also looking at the customer service counters and making sure that they’re adequately secured and there’s places that people can go to sort of as a as a shelter area so they can get away as needed, obviously there’s emergency protocols like lockdown, hold insecure procedures that we’re looking at improving and enhancing. Ultimately security as a whole and workplace violence risk assessments as a whole.

There’s a lot of work we still need to do and ultimately, there may be some things that we need down the road that we identify and those assessments.  I don’t want to I don’t want to list those out now before we before we get to doing a comprehensive assessment but definitely need to take a closer look and making sure that we’re assessing and controlling these workplace violence risks.

Mayor: Do you have any, do you have an idea how often a like a front line staff would be getting on the on the receipt of bad language for example, or you know, excessive negativity? Do you ever do a line on that? Because of these are not all not all those will be reported obviously.

Chris: This is why we we’ve introduced a very low threshold for reporting. So when interactions are happening that are inappropriate and aggressive and you know, swearing and yelling and that sort of thing.

Chris: We’re definitely encouraging those to be reported and it’s very clear that those need to be reported in our policies and procedures. I would say that, that the lion’s share or the or the majority of the 58, there would be those types of interactions. That would be the majority of it. So it’s verbal interactions that are yelling, swearing, unfortunately, sometimes somewhat threatening. That’s, I would say the majority of the 58 would be would be the yelling and the swearing and that sort of thing.

Mayor: I’m curious around what are processes for reporting. So what you know, somebody feels they’ve been harassed in any way. Whether it meets the OSA definition or not, is there a portal do they come talk to you do they talk to their supervisor what’s what do we tell folks to do or invite them to do if they experience this?

Chris: There is a reporting protocol. It’s handled the same way as any workplace incident, whether it’s a hazard or an injury, incident with injury; our direction has been to report it the same way

It goes to the supervisor first. Again, the supervisor looks at the customer service guidelines and sees you know if the interaction is within those different categories, and then ultimately, there’s an online portal that we have for all incident reports and that the supervisor will log into that portal. They will submit information and particulars about the incident they’ll do a preliminary investigation so that they can report it. That report once they hit submit the entire health safety and wellness team is alerted that something has occurred. And then we have safety advisors that will follow up with the supervisor and dig into it more. Depending on the severity and ensuring controls are placed in place to prevent it. If it if it does, if the activity or the conduct does potentially fall into misconduct as defined under the Public conduct policy, then it’s up to the supervisor and again they consult with us as well to refer for review under the misconduct as misconduct under the Public conduct policy. So that’s sort of the after the initial reporting is done and review is done.

Then there’s a there’s a decision on whether it needs to be reviewed as misconduct under the Public conduct policy and that’s a separate process, as you know, where that gets reviewed by either a director or a committee depending on the department and then steps are taken as a result of that review if needed.

Mayor: Okay, so I’m just thinking about how we because you talked about under reporting, and that notwithstanding some of these might not reach the threshold of what the statute says is harassment.

Nevertheless, they create a very toxic, fearful, degraded environment for people to work in.

You’re asking people to report right so how do we encourage people if you know they’ve got something that is just making them feel threatened, making them feel degraded as an individual? You know, we’ve all seen the we’ve all gotten emails like that personally, our staff certainly have – they take it on the chin more than anyone in terms of very derogatory personal comments, etc. and so forth. So maybe not an  WSIB payable offence, but certainly not a nice way to start your day. So how can we support people to still come forward with those things?

Chris: That’s why we’ve ensured that it’s a low threshold  – so essentially, you know, if you feel uncomfortable if someone was aggressive if someone was yelling someone who was swearing let your supervisor know that’s the first step.

That would would trigger the next steps. We regularly talk about this in safety talks. To say okay, here’s our respect in the workplace policy. Here’s our customer service guidelines. Here’s our incident reporting guidelines. We and supervisors are essentially reminding staff fairly regularly, you know, that if these interactions happen, you need to let me know as a supervisor, and then so I can make sure that’s looked after

So, Mayor, in terms of seeing the numbers increase over the years. I do you believe we’re being effective in encouraging that that reporting and ensuring psychological safety on the part of the staff member to feel comfortable escalating that to a supervisor. I think I think we’re definitely making some progress there. And I’m optimistic that we’re definitely heading in the right direction there.

Councillor Rory Nisan, Chair of the Committee that heard the Wellness report.

Chair Nisan:  Mayor, would you like to move the report?  Do you have any comments?

Mayor: I do. Thank you, Chris for all of your work on this. It ultimately does land on our table as the council as the directors of the corporation. That’s a very significant duty and responsibility on our shoulders to ensure a respectful safe harassment free workplace wherever that harassment is coming from.

And I you know, wheels are turning in my mind around how I can support my own team, because we get this a lot. I say to folks, we’re public servants. We’re not public Punching. Bags. We’re not here for others sport and amusement. We’re here to do a job and serve and that needs to be done in a respectful environment. We all deserve that. The good news is  I read this report and the previous one together. We don’t have any trouble attracting people to come and work for us. So it’s great to see the positions that we funded in the last budget, getting filled and people really wanting to join our team and when they put their trust and faith in us and they come to work for us, and as Tim said, we have a fairly low turnover rate, but we’ll get those numbers. People want to be here and we want to make sure that it’s safe and enjoyable for them to be here and to stay and that they know that we’ve got their back.

Chair Nisan: Thank you, Mayor. I don’t see any other comments I’ll just add my own. I am concerned that it is far more common than the reporting so that the numbers in the report indicating an increase doesn’t necessarily reflect what’s going on on the ground. So maybe you and I can take it offline with the responsible Executive Director as well and talk further about that. I witnessed harassment City Hall, myself late last week.

And it appears to me to be a very common occurrence. So that’s my concern – that there may be an ongoing and an increase in the culture of harassment of a small minority of residents who are not being respectful of people who are here to serve them. I look forward to talking more about the issue and how we can root it out.

With that. I don’t see any other comments. I will call the vote all those in favour. Any opposed?

That item is carried.

By Staff

April 4th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

For less than five minutes next Monday afternoon millions of people will be bustling with solar eclipse excitement.

Toronto will also be busy with sporting enthusiasts attending the Blue Jays’ opening game and the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game.

Metrolinx expects a record numbers of travellers  and will be rolling out special GO Transit services to accommodate this influx of travellers.

Niagara Falls Service

Additional GO rolling stock will be added to the service upgrades.

On Monday, April 8, there will be special service to and from Niagara Falls on the Lakeshore West line for customers travelling to see the solar eclipse:

• Two extra trips are being added to the Lakeshore West line from Union Station to Niagara Falls. Trains will depart at 9:02 a.m., 10:02 a.m. and 11:02 a.m., ensuring customers have enough time to get to Niagara for the solar eclipse.
• Trips are also being added and modified on the Lakeshore West line from Niagara Falls to Union Station. Return trips from Niagara Falls will depart at 4:24 p.m., 4:54 p.m., 7:21 p.m. and 10:51 p.m. to give customers more departure options.
• All trains to and from Niagara Falls will be 12 cars long to provide as much room onboard as possible.
• Regularly scheduled GO bus service will also be available for customers via Route 12 Niagara Falls/ Burlington.
• Trains will stop at Exhibition, Port Credit, Oakville, Burlington, Aldershot and St. Catharines GO stations in between Union and Niagara.

Event Service for Jays’ opening game and Maple Leafs’ game

Locals taking the GO to a ball game.

Also on Monday, April 8, there will be special event service on the Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East and Barrie lines to support customers travelling for the Jays and Leafs games in Toronto.  Additional express trips, adjusted schedules and replacement buses are being implemented including:

• Lakeshore West: Two extra express eastbound trips will depart Oakville GO at 5:07 p.m. and 6:03 p.m. The 10:52 p.m. westbound trip to Niagara Falls will also depart 20 minutes earlier at 10:32 p.m. to help get customers home earlier.

Customers are encouraged to use gotransit.com or triplinx.ca to plan their trips as schedules and connection times have changed for this weekend. Customers can also check the GO Transit Service Updates page for real-time details

Transit is now more convenient and affordable with Ontario’s One Fare Program, allowing transit riders to pay only once when travelling between the TTC, GO Transit, Brampton Transit, Durham Region Transit, MiWay and York Region Transit. Learn more about One Fare here: metrolinx.com/onefare.

By Pepper Parr

Match 24th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

UPDATE:  Trains will stop at Exhibition, Port Credit, Oakville, Burlington, Aldershot and St. Catharines GO stations in between Union and Niagara.

You are going to hear far more than you want to hear about the April 8th eclipse.

Metrolinx, those people who get you where you want to go have put together some interesting travel package.

On Monday, April 8, Niagara Falls will be bustling with solar eclipse excitement. Toronto will also be busy with sporting enthusiasts attending the Blue Jays’ opening game and the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Pittsburgh Penguins game.

With record numbers of travellers expected, Metrolinx is rolling out special GO Transit services to accommodate this influx of travellers.

There will be a two minute period of time when you will hear the sound of water tumbling over the falls and not be able to see what is taking place. Awesome!

Niagara Falls Service

On Monday, April 8, there will be special service to and from Niagara Falls on the Lakeshore West line for customers travelling to see the solar eclipse:

• Two extra trips are being added to the Lakeshore West line from Union Station to Niagara Falls. Trains will depart at 9:02 a.m., 10:02 a.m. and 11:02 a.m., ensuring customers have enough time to get to Niagara for the solar eclipse.
• Trips are also being added and modified on the Lakeshore West line from Niagara Falls to Union Station. Return trips from Niagara Falls will depart at 4:24 p.m., 4:54 p.m., 7:21 p.m. and 10:51 p.m. to give customers more departure options.
• All trains to and from Niagara Falls will be 12 cars long to provide as much room onboard as possible.
• Regularly scheduled GO bus service will also be available for customers via Route 12 Niagara Falls/ Burlington.

Event Service for Jays’ opening game and Maple Leafs’ game

Was the connection made?

Also on Monday, April 8, there will be special event service on the Lakeshore West, Lakeshore East and Barrie lines to support customers travelling for the Jays and Leafs games in Toronto.  Additional express trips, adjusted schedules and replacement buses are being implemented including:

• Lakeshore West: Two extra express eastbound trips will depart Oakville GO at 5:07 p.m. and 6:03 p.m. The 10:52 p.m. westbound trip to Niagara Falls will also depart 20 minutes earlier at 10:32 p.m. to help get customers home earlier.

Customers are encouraged to use gotransit.com or triplinx.ca to plan their trips as schedules and connection times have changed for this weekend. Customers can also check the GO Transit Service Updates page for real-time details

Transit is now more convenient and affordable with Ontario’s One Fare Program, allowing transit riders to pay only once when travelling between the TTC, GO Transit, Brampton Transit, Durham Region Transit, MiWay and York Region Transit. Learn more about One Fare here: metrolinx.com/onefare.

By Staff

February 26th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

That One Fare program Metrolinx has put in place starts today.

As announced earlier this month, the province – in collaboration with Metrolinx and local transit agencies – is working to connect communities across the region. Through Ontario’s One Fare Program, transferring from one transit system to another will be simpler, more convenient and more affordable.

Ontario’s One Fare Program allows transit users to only pay once when traveling between the TTC, GO Transit and participating transit systems like Brampton Transit, Durham Region Transit, MiWay and York Region Transit.  

When travelling between systems, the discount will be applied automatically when you tap a PRESTO card, credit or debit, or PRESTO in Google Wallet to connect between GO Transit, TTC and all participating transit systems.

What you need to know:

• Free transfers: For trips between the TTC and GO Transit, your TTC fare is free, regardless of travel direction and the cost of your TTC trip is discounted from your overall trip cost. For trips between the TTC and other local transit systems, the second fare of your trip is free.
• Transfer flexibility: Transfers are valid for two hours when trips start on local transit and three hours when you tap on a GO bus or train.
• Proof of payment: The payment method you use to tap is your proof of payment. Customers paying with PRESTO in Google Wallet, credit or debit card, must tap on and off with the same card.

For an adult who commutes five days a week, the One Fare Program could save them up to$1,600 per year.

You can learn more about Ontario’s One Fare Program here and watch a step by step video on our YouTube channel.