 By Pepper Parr
June 21st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Finally, with the Mayor away – her daughter graduates from Western University and Momma wants to be there for that event, Councillor Shawna Stolte, serving as the Deputy Mayor and Chair of the city council meeting got to read out her apology to staff member Georgie Gartside.
Stolte began:
“ I’m going to start with a comment to say that it really saddens and distresses me that we have a head of counsel who continually seeks out opportunities to cause quarrels and distress at the expense of honest and genuine work of councillors. The statement I’d prepared for today is an apology to a staff member named Georgie Gartside for comments made by myself that she was concerned had impugned her professionalism.
“I’m not sure how the mayor came to know the details of the issue which were a private matter.
 Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte “I had come to a genuine and heartfelt resolution that had resulted in the Integrity Commissioner determining that a public report and discussion was not necessary, as Ms Gartside and myself had reached a satisfactory resolution to her concerns. I’m concerned that the mayor’s behaviour has only served to taint and cheapen what was meant to be a positive and collaborative closure for Ms Gartside and myself. Having said that, I’d like to take the time now to read the statement that I’d prepared and I hope that she’s listening and that I hope that her experience has not been too tainted by the display earlier today.
“The statement I’d like to make is that creating and maintaining positive and productive relationships with staff at the City of Burlington is very important in our role as counsellors. It came to my attention, that a direct quote of mine in an article in the Burlington Gazette resulted in a city staff member feeling as though their character or reputation had been affected and this is not something I take lightly.
“I’d like to express my sincere regret that my involvement in an article in the Burlington Gazette on April 11 of 2020 caused distress to a staff member, Ms Georgie Gartside, as this was certainly not my intention. The nature of my interview for that article was very casual regarding the first year of being a new counsellor. And my answer to the general open ended question of what was the first few months like was described in a casual storytelling manner, which was intended to be only background material for what I assumed would be an edited article.
“Had I understood that my general and casual comments were be going to be printed verbatim in a series of articles, I certainly would have taken greater care to ensure that the explanation of my own experiences did not have any potential to negatively impact others. While I did not mention Ms Gartside specifically by name, I can certainly appreciate that she felt as though she’d be too easily identified by the comments in the article. It came to my attention that Ms Gartside felt that the comments made it sound like she had spoken to myself in a rude manner and that she did not want to be a counsellor assistant or that she planned to leave the counsellor’s office as soon as she could or that we did not work well together.
“I absolutely acknowledge Ms Gartside is concerned that my comments could have been misinterpreted in this manner. I want to state without hesitation that was certainly not in any way what I intended to communicate, and I regret any misunderstanding that caused Ms Gartside distress. Ms Gartside was very professional, upfront and honest and advising me during the first week of this term of counsel that her preference would have been to have stayed in the clerk’s department to further her career objectives. And I appreciated that honesty and I supported her desire to continue her career path.
 This is the paragraph in the April 11th, 2020 interview that led Georgie Gartside to think that she was the staff member. The Gazette was not told who the person was. “Ms Gartside remained my ward for assistant for a period of seven months in 2018 and 2019, before being requested to fill a temporary vacancy in the mayor’s office. And during those seven months, Ms Gartside was always highly professional, collaborative, polite and helping to navigate the steep learning curve at City Hall.
Upon learning of Ms Gartside’s concern I immediately sent her a private apology as I would never intentionally cause a respected colleague distress. Miss Gartside indicated it was important to her that her colleagues and the public hear directly from me that I have nothing but the utmost respect for her work and her commitment to her career. And I was more than willing to clear up this misinterpretation. If it brings comfort and resolution to a colleague for whom I have nothing but respect for.
“I want to conclude by stressing that positive and respectful relationships between staff and council are important to accomplishing the good work of the city. And I truly hope that this apology brings Miss Gartside, some peace of mind.”
The complete story of how this disturbing situation came about will follow.
Related news:
The interview that started it all.
The Mayor sets out to squash a city councillor – it backfires.
 By Alex Larsens
June 21, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Factors Influencing The Prices of Cryptocurrencies
Over the last few years, cryptocurrencies have become popular among investors worldwide. These digital currencies are characterized by high volatility, which translates to high levels of risk. Simply put, crypto prices can experience a wide swing in both negative and positive directions.
If you are wondering about the causes of these price fluctuations, then it is a must to look into the various factors that can influence the prices of cryptocurrencies. As the use of cryptocurrencies gains more adoption, they have become intertwined with the global economy. For this reason, this guide will look into these price fluctuation drivers.
 What Drives Price Changes In Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies are not backed by the government or any central authority. This ensures that they are not affected by inflation rates, as well as other monetary policies, that can affect regular fiat currencies. However, other common factors can impact crypto prices. Some of these are introduced as follows:
Demand and Supply
Just like other traditional commodities, the concept of demand and supply can affect the prices of cryptocurrencies. Take, for instance, the supply of the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is limited to 21 million coins. As the supply of this cryptocurrency nears its limits, demand increases since the supply drops. When demand rises, the price also rises.
The Impact of crypto exchanges
There is a dramatic rise in the rate at which cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and TeslaCoin, among others, are traded. This higher rate has been followed by the introduction of a plethora of crypto exchanges on the internet. For most major tokens, which are available on many crypto exchanges, there is a rise in the number of investors that are purchasing and selling the tokens.
 For investors that are interested in swapping a cryptocurrency token with another by making use of multiple exchanges, each swap comes with a fee, which eventually increases the cost of investment.
Production Cost
To verify the authenticity of a transaction on a cryptocurrency network, there is a need for a process called mining. To reward miners, the network offers them a new cryptocurrency. In Bitcoin, for example, this is how new coins are produced. Miners are often charged with the responsibility of solving complex mathematical algorithms for the right to add a block of transactions to the public ledger, called Blockchain.
 With this effort from miners, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies is not compromised. As the supply limit draws near – 21 million for Bitcoin – the level of mathematical algorithms that miners must solve to find and verify a block becomes much harder. The amount of energy and time that is needed to achieve this mining process might become very high.
To maintain their profit to make up for the high production costs, most miners often raise the value of cryptocurrencies. After all, it makes no sense for miners to invest more production costs into the mining process if the cryptocurrency they are rewarded is lower in value.
Government Regulation and Media Hype
The fact that cryptocurrencies cannot be controlled by a single entity scares the government. They feel that traditional FIAT currencies might be under serious threat since cryptos are more than capable to stand in as alternatives. For this reason, many governments restrict – or completely ban – the use of cryptocurrencies in their country.
For nations with a high number of crypto investors, any bad government regulation can negatively impact the value of the digital asset. Besides this, social media hype has also been known to affect cryptocurrencies by lowering and raising their values. The involvement of celebrities can also influence the adoption of cryptocurrencies, which raises demands for them and increases their values.
Conclusion
The crypto market is on the rise. However, its high volatility makes it a risky investment. For this reason, it is important to understand the various factors that can drive crypto prices while implementing the right strategy that can manage these factors.
 By Denis Gibbons
June 19th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
 Peng Vang drove his family down from Guelph on Thursday to let daughters Gabriel, 5, and Arielle, 3, Peng Vang drove his family down from Guelph on Thursday to let daughters Gabriel, 5, and Arielle, 3, enjoy the playground at Spencer Smith Park. Much to their delight the Sound of Music Festival was opening and the kids spotted the rides in the amusement park right away. So they returned on Friday. A native of Loie, in Thailand, Vang enjoyed the warm temperature, which was only a few degrees below the 30 C recorded in Loie on Friday.
 Joyce Cooper Holly, a 12-year-old Pomeranian, whom Joyce Cooper rescued from an abusive home, shows her appreciation at the Sound of Music Festival Friday.
When Holly first came to previous festivals, she was frightened by the sound of the drums, but she’s used to it now and loves the music. A former ballroom dancer, Cooper was there to see the ballroom dancing performance of Dancescape.
She is originally from Leicester, England, and remembers when Leicester City were finalists to Manchester United in the 1963 Football Association Cup.
 Yvonne Miller When Yvonne Miller moved from picturesque Niagara-on-the-Lake to Burlington, it was to get closer to the action. And she found it immediately at her first Sound of Music Festival. She was surprised that Burlington has more parkland and a broader waterfront than her previous home on the other side of Lake Ontario. And she says she doesn’t miss all the wineries.
A native of Warrington, Cheshire, England, she says her favorite bands are Gypsy King, Blood Sweat and Tears and The Beatles.
 Durval Pereira It pays to advertise. That’s the message Durval Pereira brought to the festival Friday. He read about it in his hometown newspaper in Cambridge. A native of the Azores in Portugal, one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations, Pereira used to be on the air playing Portuguese music for radio station CIRV in Toronto.
When the Gazette’s roving reporter informed him about Saturday’s Grand Festival Parade, he said he plans to come back.
 Katie Reynolds Burlington realtor Katie Reynolds has been coming to the festival ever since she grew up on Baldwin Avenue. The festival started in 1980. It was an easy walk down to Spencer Smith Park for her and her dog Doug.
Katie was particularly interested in listening to the music of Matt Dusk and his band. “I remember coming with my children, who are all grown up now. I love bumping into people I haven’t seen for a long time. The festival is such a gift we have. It’s just wonderful.
 John and Joan Parker, John and Joan Parker, who have lived in Burlington their entire lives, just celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in April.
They took in Friday afternoon’s performances of Dancescape and the Matt Dusk band as a fond reminder of the nights they spent dancing at the old Brant Inn, more than half-a-century ago.
Their children follow the band wherever they play. “Burlington is the very best,” Joan said. “There’s not a city around that has the number of parks and free entertainment events.”
 By Pepper Parr
June 13th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Dan VanderLelie, President, Burlington Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 1552 and Director Zone 3, Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association, is an Acting Platoon Chief in the Burlington Fire department. He delegated to city coumcil last week.
 Dan VanderLelie, President, Burlington Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 1552 and Director Zone 3, Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association. It was one of the lengthier and drill down deep delegations this writer has ever heard in Burlington . Dan was before Council for more than an hour.
As head of the Fireman’s union it has been suggested that he puts the interests of the union members before the public interest. Our experience with Dan, covers a period of ten years and in that time I have come to the conclusion that Dan is very concerned about public safety and the safety of the men and women who fight fires. He does argue that if the firefighters are not properly taken care of – you don’t have an effective fire department
Here is what else VanderLelie had to say:
When responding to fires in high rise buildings, firefighting crews of four to five members instead of two or three are significantly faster in putting out fires and completing search and rescue operations. The Fire Department Master Plan report (which was also discussed at Council on the same day) made it clear that the Burlington Fire Department is not currently able to assemble the fire fighting teams that are needed to fight high rise situations.
 What the city has and what it is going to need in terms of equipment and staff -including two new fire stations. The minimum required is 39 firefighters at the location within 10 minutes and 10 seconds. It has to be noted that the department currently only deploys 35 firefighters per shift which includes a platoon chief
VanderLelie adds that one high rise fire will pull multiple resources from different parts of the city – which doesn’t leave much to answer another fire call in the same time period.
 This graphic shows where the current fire departments are located and what each has in the way of equipment.. When there is a major fire that requires a lot of equipment the dispatch people will move equipment around so that there is the kind of coverage needed on an hour by hour basis. The Burlington fire department should add resources to the waterfront downtown area, which contains many high rise high rises and large future developments. Building a station nine (which would be a new station) and stuffing it with a truck with four firefighters provides better coverage for the downtown core.
Increasing ladder 342 (which is a fire fighting unit – not a piece of equipment) with a daily minimum staffing of four would allow for more efficient deployment of aerial apparatus and protect existing and proposed high rise structures and occupants.
Increasing daily minimum staffing on rescue 312 and 372 (these are also units) will allow for timely assembly of effective response force. This will better protect the citizens structures and firefighters. The purpose of the National Firefighting Professional Association (NFPA) 1710 standard is to specify the minimum criteria addressing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Career (as opposed to volunteer) public fire suppression operations, emergency medical service and special operations delivery and protecting the citizens of the jurisdiction and the occupational safety and health of the fire department employees.
 Each red dot is a development application that is working its way through the approval process. So I don’t want to say imagine this because you already aware of the intensification and density we are faced with in the very near future. When we requested the IAFF International Association of Firefighters do a GIS study for us which you all received a copy of – they were astonished at the speed and rate of the vertical growth in the city.
Their report discussed the development expected to take place and the need for additional fire station space and equipment in station 3’s and and more on station 1’s area. They were shocked at how quickly and how high we are going.
The intensification and vertical growth will create increased traffic congestion. It will also create longer emergency contact times whether it be for medical rescue or a fire. It must also be pointed out that this creates response time concerns for all of the other occurrences that we run within the city.
Our city has seen tremendous growth over the past 11 years, whether it be up in whether it be out and during that time our fire service has been stagnant. There has been no increase in staffing or deployment options. We’ve had zero growth. We’ve been asked to do more with the same or less – this model in practice cannot continue.
The fire chief made a presentation to you a couple of weeks ago regarding our staffing levels. I’m asking that the immediate needs to be addressed and met by this council and further requests be included in the 2023 budget.
That was the end of the VanderLelie delegation. The questions from members of Council began; it took the Acting Platoon Chief an hour to answer them all
After his formal delegation he was asked by Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns what was involved in fighting fires in high rise towers – buildings in the 30 floor plus range. Kearns: asked: can you explain the word high rise tome? And can you explain what a high rise response involves? And can you give us a better understanding of the resources required?
I’ll also ask you to weave in some conversations around what is a tall building? What is a high rise? I’m not quite sure recalling those two things, the same thing from a planning perspective and from a response perspective.
 This is what is required in the way of a medium response force. Dan: Okay. So if I may, I’m going to walk you through some of the the issues that we’re faced with including what a response looks like. And we’ll count through some of the individuals that respond.
So high rise fires are extremely labour intensive for us. There’s many factors that add so much complexity to it, Vertical Response – having to get to the floor. We talked about four minutes getting to the building – we could have up to two minutes in a vertical response if we’re in elevators. If we can’t take elevators we got to take stairs and therefore adding more time understanding that time means more fire growth. Fire conditions are amplified if, let’s say in the in the unit where the fire is, if the windows blow out. Obviously feeding more wind, wind driven fires, are extremely dangerous for firefighters.
The top of the list is the residents – we can have upwards of 400 residents in a building. So when you start factoring in the fire and the smoke migration to the other floors, which means more time and more taxing on the firefighters.
 The manpower and equipment demands increase wit the height of the building. These apartments are concrete. They’re ovens. They are concrete boxes, just radiating heat inside. Extreme heat makes things difficult.
I will use an apartment building with say 20 stories on Maple Crossing Boulevard. The first primary truck and when I say primary I mean a pump rescue which has four firefighters on it. When I say rescue, that’s two firefighters. A ladder truck is two firefighters. With the first primary truck on scene they will do an evaluation of what they have and report that back to dispatch and do a size up.
 The annunciator panel is almost a map to the building with real time data essential to the firefighters who need to know what is happening where. They firefighters will have made their way to the lobby. They’ll broadcast an initial report to our dispatch as to what they see on the annunciator panels and verify the incident location.
Every building has a panel that displays information – which floor a fire is on – which unit the fire is taking place in and determine if the building is equipped with a Chubb box, which is that little silver box which only firefighters have access to – it holds all the keys necessary to access every space in the building.
They open up the box pull out the appropriate keys they need; be it an elevator master key or a master key for the building.
They then move to take control of all the elevators and bring them to the ground floor. Then find the superintendent to gather as much information as we can.
That crew will then begin to initiate search and rescue operations and attempt confinement and extinguishment. The driver of the vehicle will be left with the elevator to operate the elevator. That’s if we can use the elevator. If we can’t use the elevator then we’ll take the driver with us. walking up the stairs
The firefighters will climb to one of two floors below the incident floor and that will be designated as incident control for our crews.
Then, as we are preparing we’re looking at what’s happening on that floor. The layout of the of the cabinets, the layout of where the elevator is the stairwells, the door numbering so then we’ll proceed to the operation stairwell and standby the standpipe connection.
We need two firefighters to hook up the standpipe, these are the pipes that carry the water to each floor – but we’ve only got one that can do it because the other two need to assist the captain going to the fire floor to begin rescue operations. So the crew will connect the high rise pack to the appliances in the standpipe and then we’ll begin to make our way down the hall into the onto the fire floor to the unit in question for fire containment, extinguishment or other measures that may be needed to mitigate the situation.
 A team of firefighters carrying high rise packs of hose and an oxygen tank preparing to ascend a stairwell. These crews will have with them so obviously their full PPE or personal protective equipment, their breathing apparatus, their hand lamps or portable radios. If we have a truck phone, we’ll take that with us. The high rise apartment packs, which is pretty much taking the truck up to the floor. So we have hoses, forcible entry tools, thermal imaging camera and other equipment that’s required.
So that’s the first truck. The second truck is going to arrive and they’re going to they’re going to support rescue operations as best as they can. So the second primary that arrives, they’re going to make their way to the incident control for and they’re going to set up a RAT team. The RAT team – rapid intervention team is there to protect the fire fighters.. If a firefighter goes down or firefighter needs rescue, that rapid intervention team is used for that so they bring all of their equipment. So that’s two guys off of that four man truck.
 A pumper truck that will push water up through hoses and standpipes to get water to each level. Then we need a second hose line. Realistically we need two people to take that second hose line. We’re only going to get one because of the people that we have there. And then the captain is going to act as a support role and an on deck role on that for so now we’ve got eight firefighters on scene eight firefighters on scene.
A third primary truck is in charge of water supply – locate a hydrant and then when you walk up to an apartment or the CFTC which means fire department connection, you see those brass fittings that stick out the side of the wall of the of the apartment those are we’re going to use those are the that’s FTC. That truck is tasked with water supply so they’re going to hook into the they’re going to use the crew that they have there to hook into that. And then once that’s hooked up, the driver remains with the truck. Those other three firefighters report to the incident control floor as more support.
The fourth primary that now shows up will report to the incident control for this out of all the trucks is one of the trucks that’s tasked with the most. The officer will be the incident safety officer will also be the could be the incident command for officer to have their people will formulate the RAT team which to set up an accountability board and know how to maintain accountability of all the firefighters that are involved in fire suppression operations or any firefighters that are on air on scene.
On air means those firefighters using oxygen. The rescue that showed up more than likely with the first primary they’ll still be in the lobby. They’ll be running lobby control and an accountability board in the lobby as well.
That accountability board tells the command people where every fire fighter is, how much oxygen they have left in their tanks if they are on air.
 There are limits to just how high a ladder truck can rise. The ladder when it shows up, will have two firefighters on will be charged with setting up aerial operations if required. They will be responsible for assisting and pressurizing of the stairwells with ventilation fans. They’ll provide ventilation through the through the roof, and they’ll also provide air monitoring.
Now a lot of the time what with all of this and all of these individuals that are working we haven’t factored in whether or not we find the victim yet whether or not we’ve had smoke migration or fire migration to another floor. We saw this in Toronto. I can’t remember the street but we saw in Toronto a few years back. The fire licked its way up and made its way to the next balcony.
At this point we have 20 people on scene with a Platoon Chief who is going to Command operations and move our resources.
With 20 or more on site it is more than likely that there will be a secondary call for a secondary unit to assist us with response. When we put all that together, the city has all those trucks – four of them – three primaries remaining with 12 firefighters and one rescue so we have 14 firefighters remaining in the city.
Like I said more than likely upgrading that department fire so now we’re going to have three trucks.
Dan VanderLelie was nearing the end of his explanation – added that it has been said before that while one fire is being battled there will always be another somewhere else that requires firefighters and resources .
And to meet those other fire calls the department needs both firefighters and equipment.
So, it’s been said before it’ll never happen, but every time we say it will never happen. It always happens.
Sorry. I should have told you it was going to be long.
 By Staff
June 13th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
 The Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) has extended their service hours at the District stations effective today, Monday, June 13, 2022 as follows:
Burlington now open to the public 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Georgetown 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Milton now open to the public 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Oakville now open to the public 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
HRPS Headquarters is also open 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, closed on statutory holidays.
In addition to attending a HRPS facility in-person, there are a number of ways to contact the HRPS, depending on the assistance needed:
In an Emergency
If you have an emergency, please dial 9-1-1. It is an emergency if someone’s immediate health, safety, or property is in immediate danger or there is a crime in progress. For non-emergencies, dial 905-825-4777.
Collision Reporting
The HRPS has three Collision Reporting Centres. These centres are staffed and managed by Accident Support Services. Learn more here.
Record Checks
The HRPS provides Police Record Checks to residents of Halton region for employment or volunteer purposes. Police Record Checks are available online or in-person at the HRPS Headquarters.
Freedom of Information Services
Anyone needing to file a FOI request can now do so online, via our website at haltonpolice.ca/foi
Online Reporting
We have a number of online reporting tools available on our website. These tools can be used to report some crimes, or to report traffic concerns.
 By Pepper Parr
June 12th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
If Paul Sharman does not wander down to city hall before August 19th, Marianne Meed Ward will be returned as Mayor in the October election.
Mayoralty candidate Annn Marsden will surprise people with the number of votes she gets but she will not be the Mayor.
 Mayor Marianne Meed Ward  Paul Sharman, Councillor  Anne Marsden Sharman certainly likes the idea of being Mayor and it would be one heck of a way to end a political career. But Paul Sharman is cautious, especially when it relates directly to his personal interests.
He has to decide if he wants to watch Meed Ward whittle away some of the gains that have taken place.
He has a vision for the city but isn’t yet at the point where he can advocate for and speak to that vision. It probably has some rough edges yet.
The challenge for Paul Sharman is deciding what kind of a mark he wants to make before his political career comes to an end.
Will he go for the brass ring and be known as someone who took a risk and made Burlington a different and better place ?
Or will he settle for having been a four term council member and retiring – to what?
There is a lot riding on the decision Sharman makes.
There are three other members of the current council that harbour dreams of becoming Mayor – a lot of growing left to be done for all three – a meeting with a guidance counsellor in the near future for at least one
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
By Pepper Parr
June 10th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
The city manager sits in on every Standing Committee meeting as well as Council meetings.
The City manager is the only person that Council hires. The city manager runs the administrative side of the city delegating the authority he got from Council to his team.
Members of Council chair the Standing Committees – as Chair they make decisions on how the procedural manual is to be interpreted and remind speakers if they have run out of time or if they are wandering from the subject matter.
Earlier this week, for the first time in the ten years I have been covering city council Tim Commisso, the City Manager caught the eye of the Chair and said the following.
 City manager Tim Commisso at Standing Committee earlier this week. “I think it’s one of the things we’re very fortunate yo have which is a great relationship with the Chief, but I would just caution council, I don’t know if it’s fair for the delegation to be talking in depth about operations.
I’d be honest with you, I think certainly perspective on NFPA. You know, and that I just think you’re going to hear from the on the presentation on the master plan in front of the chief.
So I just suggest that the in depth nature of fire operations and I know, Mr. Vanderlelie is more than capable of speaking about it, but I think it’s really questions that are directed, I think in conjunction with the Master Fire Plan.
Finally, the other thing that raises and it’s a very good point is the growth intensification comes with certainly a set of questions is whether we need to be in a position to fund something like a new station downtown in advance or once we see that growth in the tech space so I just I would just suggest it through the chair. The questions really don’t focus on operations so much.
Thank you.”
For the City Manager to suggest that a Fire Service Captain should not delve into operations when he was specifically asked by a Council member to do just that is a bit more than surprising.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
 By Connor Fraser
June 8th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
A significant portion of my life has been spent cycling around Burlington. During high school, my commute often took me along Plains Road. On weekends, my friends and I would find our way to Spencer Smith Park and the beach. From a young person’s perspective, safe cycling options go a long way towards cementing a lifelong commitment to healthy behaviour.
 Lanes dedicated to cycling – some want to see barriers in place to protect cyclists. If my experience has taught me one thing, it’s that travelling around Burlington on a bicycle is inconvenient and borderline dangerous. Bike lanes along major streets such as Plains Road are intermittent and full of potholes. Connecting lanes between neighbourhoods – such as the Lakeshore Road QEW underpass – are non-existent. Under such conditions, cyclists are forced to dismount and walk long distances, or take their chances in live traffic.
Thankfully, a number of large-scale cycling projects are about to break ground in Burlington. In 2022, Plains Road between Waterdown Road and Spring Gardens Road will be resurfaced and buttoned up with protected cycling facilities. In 2025, Prospect Street and the remainder of Plains Road are scheduled for installations.
While these projects are likely to cause short-term disruptions to residents’ lifestyles, they should be welcomed with enthusiasm and open-mindedness. Aligning near-perfectly with the city’s strategic goals, cycling is both an environmentally sustainable method of transportation, and one that promotes long-term physical and mental health. As much as bike lanes are a short-term investment to enable diverse forms of mobility, they are also a long-term investment in environmental health and preventative healthcare. People who are empowered to cycle more often due to the presence of a convenient cycling network are more likely to remain healthy and happy throughout their lives.
 City photo op to promote cycling to work. Several very senior people in this picture even owned a bike. Unfortunately, Burlington’s recent past has been marred with hostility towards the concept of bike lanes. The New Street Bike Lane Pilot was removed in 2018 following the recommendations of a report entitled “New Street pilot project review and resurfacing.” While the report noted a common perception among residents that traffic along New Street became more congested during the pilot, the authors admitted that cause and effect was difficult to determine. For example, average westbound travel times between Walkers Line and Guelph Line increased by just 1.5 minutes during peak evening hours, while negligible travel time increases were noted for eastbound travel during peak hours. Moreover, when taking an average of datapoints over the entire day, impacts to travel times were minimal in both directions (+16 seconds westbound, +1 second eastbound). The report also found inconclusive evidence of traffic diversion onto adjacent roadways. Nevertheless, the New Street pilot was removed by council, setting back Burlington’s progress towards integrated mobility by several years.
Fast forward to the present, and conditions have changed such that all residents should be able to embrace, and also benefit from, upcoming cycling installations. Notably, the pandemic has enabled more people to work from home and avoid rush-hour traffic that some claim is aggravated by bike lanes.
Despite my above enthusiasm, progress towards building out the municipal cycling network is slow and suffers from critical underfunding. The New Street pilot project review and resurfacing report recommended (as a consolation) installing separated cycle tracks “for consideration in the 2019 to 2028 capital budget.” My sources at city hall informed me this project has been pushed until 2031 – a delay of at least 3 years. According to the 2022 Budget, several other projects that were listed as “high priority” by the 2021 Cycling Plan and initially targeted for completion by 2025 – have subsequently been pushed back. The Active Transportation Crossing of the QEW and Walker’s Line resurfacing will be delayed by 5-6 years and 2-3 years respectively beyond original timelines, documents suggest. We’ll see if anything changes once the Integrated Mobility Plan is released.
Is Burlington under equipped to make investments in public infrastructure and in particular cycling infrastructure? The media release page for the 2022 budget proudly displays how our municipal tax rate is significantly lower than other GTA municipalities (over 12.5% lower than the average municipality). If the consequence is that important projects must experience significant delays, it’s not a statistic to be proud of. We must be willing to pay for infrastructure upgrades, especially those that enhance quality of life to the extent that bike lanes will. Not only could there be noticeable upsides for property values (transit oriented communities are actually desirable for young people and young families), but the long term returns to personal, public and environmental health would be material and far outweigh any initial investment. One might argue that the above-cited delays are pandemic-related. However, our neighbours such as the City of Toronto used the pandemic as a catalyst for major expansions of their cycling networks.
The point is this. From my limited understanding, life is about compromise. That’s precisely what is happening here and why I hope to see uniform support behind city council and city staff. On one hand, Burlington is getting new cycling infrastructure. On the other hand, the projects have been delayed and will likely be completed incrementally over the next decade – keeping impacts on daily routines to an absolute minimum and allowing long periods for adjustment. Compromise.
I sincerely hope that most are enthusiastic about the upcoming cycling projects and are ready to eventually consider embracing cycling as a legitimate alternative to the automobile when it comes to getting around town!
 Connor was born in Hamilton in 1997, is a long-time resident of Aldershot. He has volunteered for several local organizations and advocated to municipal leaders on building transit oriented, walkable communities.
In 2020, Connor completed undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, with a B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science and a major in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Connor has returned to U of T to enrol in the dual Master of Global Affairs and Master of Business Administration program.
 By Pepper Parr
June 5th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Thursday was not a good day for Andrew Drummond.
His third campaign to become the representative for Burlington in the provincial legislature didn’t work out the way he had hoped.
 Drummond had the best funding he has ever had plus a bigger team to knock on doors – the wind he needed was never in his sails. He started the campaign with better funding than he has ever had. The NDP saw Burlington as a seat that could be won.
Drummond said the NDP had identified 6000 people who would vote for them
The Burlington NDP organization got the best results in all of Halton. And Drummond is fervent in his belief that if there is going to be an NDP seat in the region it will be in Burlington.
 The days immediately after an election that was lost are not the hardest – those are yet to come. Today Drummond talks about an organization with 100 formal members that he believes can be built to 200 and that in the months and years ahead Burlington will see the NDP protesting on street corners and in front of city hall.
There are important issues said Drummond who lists them: Daycare funding, environmental issues, climate change, better job prospects, Women’s Place, Urban boundaries – he has more.
 Ever the campaigner – Andrew Drummond was out every day – but the New Democrats didn’t have enough traction at the provincial level to give him the room to grow his campaign. He plans on more meetings for the local NDP association and expects to be able to partner with other groups on their issues.
Drummond explains that people were Ok with the job Doug Ford did on the COVID 19 issue – the other serious issues just didn’t get the traction they needed. He added that provincially, the NDP campaign just never did really take off.
Which leads Drummond to the forthcoming leadership campaign. At this point his voice changes – some excitement comes back – “There are some stars in caucus; there are bright lights that will begin to shine” he explains. Expect Drummond to be up to his ears in the leadership campaign – but isn’t prepared to say if there is a candidate that he likes the look of.
Will he run again in 2026 – four years is a long, long, long time in the world of politics – but a guess would be – he will run again.
What can we expect from the new government we asked? Drummond does not subscribe to the view that Doug Ford is a changed man. “He is there to help his buddies make a lot of money” adding that parts of Burlington are at serious risk.
The 407-Dundas urban divide is at risk. Drummond believes that the owners of most of the property that is immediately north of that roadway – 407 and Dundas, will end up being developed with the Ford government that will be sworn in soon.
By Paul Sharman, Councillor ward 5
June 4th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
The following appeared in Local News – Burlington, an alternative online news source. Reprinted with permission
Many people are extremely interested in what is happening with the acquisition of the former Robert Bateman High School (RBHS) by the City of Burlington.
In a nutshell, as they say, after a year of talks, property analysis, assessment, engineering analysis and negotiations, the acquisition is getting closer to completion. Here are the key steps taken by the city in the process to acquire RBHS, with two steps still to occur:
 The former Bateman High School site. What will the city name the location once it acquires the property ? Key steps completed
June 23, 2021: the Halton District School Board (HDSB) announced that it has declared Robert Bateman High School surplus to its needs.
June 24, 2021: the City of Burlington announced that an expression of interest would be submitted to the HDSB to purchase the Robert Bateman site through a partnership with Brock University.
December 2021: council provided direction to staff to submit a formal offer to purchase the Robert Bateman High School site, subject to price and details to be negotiated.
February 3, 2022: Burlington City Council endorsed next steps to advance the potential acquisition of the Robert Bateman High School site from the Halton District School Board.
Steps yet to come
June 21, 2022: city council will consider results of public input and then decide whether to proceed with the land exchange and long-term leases and will then authorize staff to complete all matters.
September 2022: The deal will be complete (if authorized to proceed) and funds transferred, at which time the land exchange price and other details will become public in accordance with provincial regulations and city policy. The parties are prohibited from disclosing price information until after completion.
What is going on
Halton District School Board (HDSB) voted to close the school in June 2017. I and a huge number of community members opposed that choice for several reasons. Those reasons remain extremely relevant to this day, but that is another article. After the decision was made, I and then-Mayor Goldring committed to seeing RBHS purchased by the city for community, recreation, and other uses.
On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, HDSB declared the Bateman property surplus to its needs. Since then, the school board has followed a prescribed process to negotiate the sale of the property. The City of Burlington had the right to purchase it if no other school organization wanted it. Because Burlington’s population has grown significantly over the last 20 years and is due to increase in the order of 70,000 more people in the next 30 years, more land and buildings are required for community recreation and other uses by the city. Accordingly, shortly after the property was declared surplus, the city voted to proceed with the acquisition of the property.
After a year of work, on June 21, 2022, city council will consider results of public input from a survey and a meeting held on May 31, and then decide whether to proceed with the land exchange and long-term leases of space to the HDSB and Brock University. Council will then authorize staff to complete all remaining matters. In September 2022, the deal will be complete and funds transferred, at which time the land exchange price and other details will be made public, following provincial regulations and city policy. Unfortunately, those details cannot be released earlier.
After that, a lot of activity will occur to obtain community input on how the property will be used. Partial details of use are discussed below, and they will evolve over time.
What Burlington is getting
When the HDSB declared invited offers to purchase from municipal government, they prescribed that only those that allowed the board to retain approximately 39,000 sq.ft. of space in the school under lease for a period of over 20 years would be accepted. Meanwhile, Brock University also wanted to lease a similar or larger amount of space as HDSB in order to offer programming in Burlington. The City of Burlington press release discussing the Brock partnership in June 2021 can be found here.
The RBHS building is so large (at 212,270 sq. ft.) that the space available for community and recreation use after deducting Brock and HDSB leased space from the total will be greater than any existing Burlington recreation centre.
Central High School land transfer
On May 18, 2022, the Halton District School Board issued a media release stating that they were
“…advancing a land transaction with the City of Burlington that would see the exchange of the City-owned sports field at Burlington Central High School (1433 Baldwin St, Burlington), with the sale of the former Robert Bateman High School (5151 New St, Burlington).”
“The parcel of land adjacent to Burlington Central High School is approximately five acres and includes the sports field and track to the west of the school. The Board’s purchase of this land ensures the continued operation of Burlington Central High School by the HDSB for the foreseeable future.”
This relates to the fact that the city already owns land at Central High School, Wellington Park on the west side, on the corner of Hager Ave., and on Baldwin Street, which features a sports field, outdoor track, and playground, and is integrated into daily school use. The school board has been interested in acquiring the property for a number of years. It makes no sense for the city to own land that the school is using, especially downtown where it is very valuable, and to then be buying land from the school board for the city to use elsewhere. Therefore, city ownership of land at Central High School will be transferred to the board with a value based on market prices. The dollar value of the property will be credited in favour of the city against the price of the Bateman purchase.
Brock, HDSB tenants and the Central High School land transfer all have the effect of making the acquisition of RBHS less of a burden for Burlington taxpayers. In the long run, when Brock and the HDSB leases expire, the city will decide how to use the entire building for community or other uses.
If Central is ever closed, then the board would have to declare it surplus and the city should be able to buy it back, if it wants.
City and recreation uses of the property
The primary goal of the city for the Bateman site is to satisfy community recreation needs, which will include: retention of Centennial swimming pool and school gym; public greenspace; new flexible programming areas (i.e. expanded city community centre); relocation of Burlington Public Library (BPL) – New Appleby Branch; and relocation of TechPlace. All of this is being done to create a sustainable signature community hub, with a focus on learning and active living.
Conclusion
Assuming final purchase of the Bateman property by the city concludes as expected, we will be able to offer recreation services to members of our community of all ages for decades to come. I am totally supportive of acquiring the property at a reasonable cost by the city, which I expect will happen.
Paul Sharman has been the Councillor for ward 5 since 2010
 By Staff
June 1st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
June is the Month of Play and a perfect time for the city’s parks, trails, outdoor pools, splash pads, cultural areas, and events come to life with activities, people, and fun.
As the city celebrates June as the Month of Play, they encourage residents to get active indoors and outdoors and enjoy everything the City offers.
Get Outside and Play Challenge
Our annual Get Outside and Play Challenge will begin on June 1 and ends on Aug. 29, 2022. We encourage Burlington residents to explore all the places and spaces in Burlington with over 90 activities available. The activities and challenges have been created so teams of individuals or families can participate in completing at least 90 activities in 90 days.
Great prizes await the winning team. Contest rules, information on the challenge and list of prizes are available on our website at burlington.ca/playoutside.
June is also Seniors Month.
Adults 55+ can join in the fun at all City Recreation and Community Centers across Burlington. Programs include fitness, sports, arts, games, socials, learning and music activities; and participants can join in programs offered online, indoor, outdoor and/or by telephone.
Choose from registered programs of different lengths, and/or drop-in single visit pay-as-you-play programs (reserve a drop-in spot online or by phone in advance). Select inter-generational programs for anyone 19 and older or enjoy peer-age programs for adults 55 and older, if preferred.
For more information about June activities or other programs for Adults 55+, visit burlington.ca/adult.
Concerts in the Park presented by the Rocca Sisters
Concerts in the Park returns June 19 until Aug. 28. Sit back and enjoy free music at the Central Park Bandshell every Wednesday and Sunday from 7:30 to 9 p.m. The list of concerts can be found at burlington.ca/concerts.
Longest Day of Play
June 21 is the longest day of the year and also the longest day of play. Why not take advantage of the day and plan an event in your neighbourhood park? View the Love My Neighbourhood resources at burlington.ca/neighbourhood.
Pop Up n’ Play
Pop Up n’ Play is back this year in select locations in Burlington parks. Drop-by with your kids for fun times using imagination to create a different play experience through making a mess, building, and creating. Learn more at burlington.ca/popupnplay.
Skate Hub
Beginning June 4, residents can borrow a pair of skates at the Appleby Ice Centre through the Skate Hub. Sizes and selections are limited and borrowed on a first come, first served basis.
Festivals and Events
There are plenty of festivals, events and cultural activities available this summer. Visit burlington.ca/calendar to view the full calendar. For events hosted by the City, including Canada Day, Kids Mini Fest and Movies Under the Stars, visit burlington.ca/events.
For more information on all recreation programs and services, visit burlington.ca/recreation.
Burlington is a city where people, nature and businesses thrive. Sign up to learn more about Burlington at Burlington.ca/Enews and follow @CityBurlington on social media.
 Chris Glenn, Director, Recreation, Community and Culture Chris Glenn, Director, Recreation, Community and Culture
“There is always something fun to do around the city with all of our parks, trails and greenspace. Get outside and play, be active, have fun or just enjoy the space around you. The possibilities are endless.”
By Staff
June 1st, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
One of our correspondents set out one view on the Public Meeting that took place virtually last night with the statement:
Smoke and Mirrors adding that the “the city doesn’t have a clue what it will be doing with the space other than the 15-20% of the building ( approx 40,000 square feet) that Brock is perhaps willing to sign a 20 year lease.
The space has to be ready by September 2024, and I have to wonder if there is a clause that if the renovations are not completed in time they can simply walk away from the lease.
The parking issue was skirted around, very similar to how the city deals with parking and traffic ” We will do this in phases and the existing parking will be sufficient”. What happens when phase 2 and 3 are complete? No mention of the timeline between the 3 construction/renovation phases. I can see this going on for years and years before it becomes “the much needed community centre”.
The City has not even looked into the cost of the removal of the asbestos. They have no plans to do this until the sale is finalized. Who does this ??? – go into such a large project without knowing what the cost will be for this removal ( this will be a very expensive proposition )- as you know it can be more dangerous to remove the asbestos.
I found it interesting that in 2014 the City paid to renovate a pool that didn’t belong to the city.
The HDSB who took art in the virtual event, skirted the issue as to what it will do with Gary Allen.
No company in the private sector would go through with the purchase or renovations of Robert Bateman without having all the necessary costs involved known before acquiring the property.
 Early thinking on what the site could look like. The only thing I got out of this meeting is how much or should I say how little space Brock is going to lease and that in my opinion this is what is driving the speed in decision, especially since Tim Commisso indicated that the city is the only one interested in the Bateman Property.
At the close of the meeting City manager Commisso said “ I think the fact that this is going to create a really strong facility and legacy for our community. But it’s been a year of us trying to look ahead while also seeing what the immediacy of having to make a decision about the purchase.
I’m not going to make any apologies for the fact that we’ve done as much as we can as much due diligence, but we don’t have all of the answers that perhaps people think we might or should have. In order to make the purchase decision.
 Partly because we’re under a prescribed process that really requires us to be responsive to the school board in terms of meeting their needs. I will say the worst thing that can happen is that somehow that we weren’t involved in this process or whatever. And I won’t even speculate on what that means. But, you know, I think we made a commitment. And counsel certainly made that commitment that we would go through this process and try to do as much as we could in advance. But we don’t have all the answers. We do commit to is the process from here.
So let the design you know, what’s the community centre going to look like? What are the uses? How is that going to be done parking through zoning will all be public thing. It’s really a part of a process.
I think that we see moving forward and we hope and we encourage as many people as possible to get engaged now. Because I think at the end of the day, you know, this is a facility that we all want to be proud of. And I think by having our partners in there to really showcase I think the fact that Burlington is creating a hub here, so I’ll leave it at that.
I know I’m kind of over my comments over the time, but I just wanted to acknowledge that says that this is a unique project. It’s not like we bought a piece of land and then we started planning for it. We have to meet a prescribed timeline in order to purchase it because we’re an eligible agency. And then we have to essentially make sure that we design and program that properly. So that meets the needs of the community over the long term. In my years this has probably been the most challenging facility projects that I’ve worked on. And I’ve worked on quite a few of them.
The Gazette had two meeting taking place at the same time and has not found a way to be in two places at once.
We will review the recording a d go through the transcription we have of the event and report back real soon.
 By Pepper Parr
May 30th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Stop the Campbellville Quarry
Protests, email efforts, using social media to the max – they are all part of bringing about a change in what a government wants to do.
The Reform Gravel Mining Coalition took things a couple of steps further – the set themselves up as Third Party Advertisers.
A third party is any person or entity that is not a political party, candidate or constituency association, and that engages in political advertising.
 Thousands were mailed out to the residents of Halton They were able to raise funds and paid for the printing of thousands of brochures that were put in the mail to everyone they felt was impacted by the plans for the Campbellville Quarry which Premier Doug Ford is on record saying it would not be permitted to grow.
That speech by the Premier is on their web site.
We asked for a copy of the pamphlet and were told that they had spent all their advertising money.
We explained that ours was a news story about a group of people putting their shoulders to the wheel to prevent a quarry development from taking place.
Third party advertisers are not a new addition to the game of politics. They just haven’t been used all that much.
The work done by the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition is a welcome example of what should be done more often – the words coming from the candidates need to be balanced by more public points of view.
Third Party Advertisers are bound tightly by all kinds of rules which is unfortunate – the public needs every opportunity possible to get their views out into the public domain.
The political parties flood the airways – television and radio – telling THEIR story which is often short a lot of facts.
Graham Flint, co-chair of the group, said the coalition formed after decades of “chronic” quarry development in the province.
“After years and years of having individual communities deal with aggregate issues, a group of us felt that it was time to form a broader coalition and elevate the issues that these individual communities were facing to to a higher level to awareness across the province overall,” Flint said.
“Gravel mining is not a benign activity,” Flint said. “It destroys the natural environment and damages communities. Its product is the feed source for highways and sprawl, the various things that are accelerating the climate crisis that we need to get under control.”
By Pepper Parr
May 29th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
 This is an act of trust – the power that is in your hands is being given to someone else with the understanding that they will govern fairly and responsibly, You have in your hands the power that is the engine of every democracy.
It belongs to you.
On Thursday you will give that power to others and expect them to govern responsibly and to ensure that everyone is treated fairly.
That the pressing interests and concerns are given the attention and the resources needed.
Climate change – the Premier needs some help from the public on that one.
The building of new highways. This one has a direct link to climate change and the real needs of the province. Highway 413 is something you want to pay attention to.
Putting together a long term care program that is not in place to just line the pockets of the private sector.
Housing – and more importantly affordable housing.
Education – our students have been short clanged during the pandemic – we need to right that change.
The power to bring about what is needed is in your hands today – on Thursday you will give that power to someone else.
 Will we remember them? Don’t make your decision on who to give it to based on how your grandfather voted.
Do what you know is right – and you do know what is right – when you cast your ballot. Most important cast that ballot. You have a few days to think about who you want in place to run this province.
The race in Burlington is very tight – every vote will matter.
The men and women who have served this country trough several wars put their lives at risk to defend the democracy we have deserve your attention on Thursday.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
 By Pepper Parr
May 29th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
The negotiations taking place for the purchase of the Robert Bateman High School property is raising a lot of questions. The public want answers.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward is doing what a good Mayor should do; take questions and give brief, to the point and informative answers
One of the questions the Mayor handled was as follows:
Q: I’ve seen reports in some media outlets that have said this acquisition will cost $50 million — is that true?
The Mayor replies:
This does not reflect the actual dollar figure.
 Mayor Meed Ward She them segways into a report from the Integrity Commissioner, who did find that information made during a public Council meeting was made public by ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte for which she was docked five days pay.
What the sanctioning has to do with the question asked is hard to figure out.
The Mayor continues:
The following sections from the Integrity Commissioner report are relevant:
• [43] We find that the Councillor’s statement, although not actually disclosing real dollar amounts discussed in closed session, is fairly perceived as revealing confidential information, risks misleading the public, and compromises the ability of any other member of Council to contradict or correct the information.
• [44] The fact that the information does not reflect the specific actual dollar figure is not an answer which justifies the apparent breach. If such were the case, confidentiality of closed discussion could be breached with impunity simply by mis- stating facts and information subject to closed session deliberations.
• [45] Accordingly we find that the Councillor’s reference to an actual dollar figure, where by implication the only source of that information is closed session, constitutes a contravention of the confidentiality provisions of the Code.
The public wanted an answer on the cost of the purchase but the Mayor chose to deflect and blame the Council member for the public confusion.
It is this kind of behaviour that has resulted in a fractured council.
 By Ray Rivers
May 28th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Ontario’s election is more about us, the voters, than the political leadership candidates or their parties. The pandemic, which is not over yet; the vicious war raging in Ukraine; home affordability and rising gasoline prices at the pumps; another mass shooting and the impending illegality of a woman’s choice to family planning south of the border are uncertainties weighing on the electors before they even enter the voting booth.
 Doug Ford: Rivers thinks he is going to get it done And when we are overloaded with anxiety we most often choose the devil we know to lead us again, as the expression goes. So it should be no surprise that the polls have Doug Ford’s PCs winning a majority of the seats to form the government for the next four years. One would think that Mr. Ford’s significant lead in popular support is a testament to his governance since the last election.
But after objectively reviewing his record, as I have in previous columns, that would be a hard case to make. Perhaps it is Ford’s competition for the job of premier that helps him stand out by contrast. Liberal leader Steven Del Duca is still an unknown quantity, even after those years as a cabinet minister, and has failed to distinguish himself in this race. The Liberal’s second place standing in the polls likely has more to do with them than their leader. They are, after all, the natural alternative governing party to the PCs, and the one voters will likely turn to when disaffection sets in with the current crowd ruling the roost at Queen’s Park.
 Stephen Del Duca: a bit of a policy wonk who has yet to really connect with the public And at least on one issue Del Duca and his NDP counterpart are at the other end of the spectrum from Ford. That is when it comes to climate change. If one discounts the unlikely scenario of Mr. Putin starting a nuclear war, global warming is the most critical existential crisis we will see in our lifetimes. And that is not a scare tactic. We are already experiencing the horrible consequences of global warming and we know it’ll only get worse.
We have seen Mr. Ford kill clean renewable energy projects by the hundreds simply because he doesn’t like wind and solar generation. Ironically that has led to a potential shortfall in electricity generating capacity and is threatening the prized $2.5 B investment LG had been planning for a battery production facility in Windsor. So much for Ontario being open for business.
 Better the devil you know Then there was the fight against the carbon tax and the lowering of Ontario’s climate goals, which, regardless, are unlikely to be met. But most telling was the recent court case over this government’s climate policies by some young plaintiffs. Future generations will be most affected after all. Unbelievably, Ford’s witnesses tried to argue that climate change is just a hoax, and the case should be dismissed on those grounds. That is very telling of Mr. Ford and where he can be expected to lead this province once he is re-elected.
After a crisis, as we’ve experienced with the pandemic, electors sometimes look for a fresh face. But sometimes they prefer to stick with what they know, a kind of don’t rock the boat phenomenon. That is what Ontario voters will be doing on election day this week, barring a miracle. Mr. Ford represents the safe choice in their minds, the conservative voice of stability and steady as she goes.
 Andrea Horwath – a safer conservative choice? And yet of all the parties, the NDP and Andrea Horwath might more appropriately be seen as the safe choice – the conservative option. She and her party have crafted their platform over a number of years, and while they have included some bold ideas, such as eliminating for-profit long term care, most policies are seasoned and reasoned. Currently polling in third place, the NDP is still expected to form the official opposition thanks to voting splits.
Mr. Ford knows he’s going to win so he’s playing it safe. He’s presumably instructed PC candidates to skip the all-candidate debates, where they might actually stumble and tell voters what they really think about abortion, gun control, private education, vaccination and masking – it’s all about ‘hear no evil, believe no evil’. But what is amazing is how tolerant voters are in accepting that situation.
Are the most conservative among us comfortable voting for a candidate who has been velcro-lipped, and a party which has shared so little of where it is going over the next four years? If Justin Trudeau tried to do this, there would be howls from the media, and everyone would be labelling him ‘arrogant’.
By Pepper Parr
May 27th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
What will the province look like on Friday June 3rd?
Put a different way – How bad could it be?
 Has Doug Ford changed? And if he has – how much? Building the 413 is not a change – its the same old Doug. Province wide the polls say that Doug Ford will be returned as Premier.
Who will form the Opposition?
The polls again suggest that the New Democrats will continue to be the Opposition
What the polls are also telling us is that Steve Del Duca may not win his own seat.
 Wishful thinking? The New Democrats will be deeply disappointed about not being able to form a government and will need to think about their leadership.
Leadership for the Liberals will have to come out of whatever they have in the way of members sitting in the Legislature.
 There is a better than even chance that Del Duca will lose his seat. Will this happen?
Polls are never accurate – but they are an indicator.
The challenge for the people of Ontario is to find some way to limit how much damage Doug Ford can do. A Progressive Conservative government would serve Ontario well.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
By Pepper Parr
May 26th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
Word that we hear is that the Progressive Conservatives are getting some serious blow back on the decision to pull their candidate from debates as they campaign door to door.
The decision to pull the candidates from public debates was decided by the people running the provincial campaign.
In Burlington the PC’s stayed away from the Chamber of Commerce debate – which was surprising. If there was ever a venue that was tailor made for the PC’s – it has to be the Chamber of Commerce.
The traditional focus for the Conservative community has always been – respect for law and order; being responsible for yourself; financially prudent and supporting the social institutions.
This country has had some great Conservative leaders.
 Good graphics, a strong visual presence – all things a well funded campaign can afford.. That strong voice they advertise turned out to be close to mute. In my short interview with Nicole Pierre I was impressed, especially with her empathy for people and the problems they face.
She didn’t bring much in the way of political experience to the table but she struck me as being sharp enough to pick up how the Legislature works and how to serve the community she would represent.
I find myself wondering how she felt about being told that she would not be taking part in debates. I didn’t see Natalie as a woman who does what she is told to do if she thinks it is wrong or stupid.
In the event that she wins – and it is a very tight race in Burlington, how does she present herself as a person who is there to serve when she wasn’t prepared to let the voters hear what she had to say – even if she was just parroting the party line.
Elections are a part of our culture for which we have paid a very high price for – the cost in lives is set out in stone at the cenotaph with the names of the men who were lost.
To not campaign and take a sincere part in an election – the event those men gave their lives for is an insult.
 Natalie Pierre – a decent candidate; someone who they could be proud of; someone who would reflect their values. Might have been false advertising. Will we be seeing Natalie Pierre and the rest of the Burlington Progressive Conservative Party leadership on November 11th with poppy’s in their lapels?
The people who went along with the decision to keep the candidate in a bubble should be ashamed of themselves.
Should the PC’s win it will be due to some sharp practices that will find their way into how a Progressive government performs.
There is a woman, a senior, that I cross paths with from time to time, who used to complain about how big an embarrassment Jane McKenna was, hoping that the party would come up with a decent candidate.
This time around they found a decent candidate; someone who they could be proud of; someone who would reflect their values. I wonder what the senior will say to me when we cross paths next ?
Are elections now just about winning with maybe a wink at values and the hope that the voters won’t understand what the politicians are saying. The issues are complex – the responsibility is to explain them – which is something I thought Natalie Pierre was going to be good at.
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
 By Staff
May 23rd, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette uses Malwarebyte for much of our cyber security. It has worked well for us in the past – we recommend it. It is not free.
David Ruiz is a Pro-privacy, pro-security writer. Former journalist turned advocate turned cybersecurity defender. Still a little bit of each who writes for MAlwarebyteLabs. The following is a piece he wrote early in May – well worth reading if who gets to use your personal information matters to you.
Swearing off a company used to be easier. Rude customer service, an unfortunate bout of food poisoning, even standing up for workers’ rights against the alleged involvement of a private company to order a country’s military to brutally quash a strike—almost every facet of an individual boycott could be satisfied by simply refusing to purchase a company’s products.
But such a move can be far more difficult to accomplish today, especially when you’re trying to sever your relationship with an Internet conglomerate. Tired of Facebook? Be sure to jump off Instagram and WhatsApp, too, which are both owned by the social media giant. Over Amazon? Good luck trying to navigate the web without landing on at least one site hosted by Amazon Web Services.
And what about Google?
 The online behemoth has become so much more than a search engine, as it owns and produces hardware like Android phones, Google Pixel phones, Nest thermostats, and FitBit devices, while also operating Google Chrome, Google Mail, Google Calendar, Google Hangouts, YouTube, and Waze.
Saying goodbye to Google, then, isn’t as easy as refusing to buy an Android phone. It means likely changing several aspects of your life, including some that will affect the people around you.
Thankfully, this daunting task has already been taken on by the cybersecurity evangelist Carey Parker, who spoke recently on the Lock and Code podcast from Malwarebytes. According to Parker, it isn’t that he wanted to remove Google because he “hates” its products—if anything, he’s a fan. Instead, he wanted to start supporting other companies that will respect him and his data privacy.
“Google knows so much about us,” Parker said, explaining that Google makes the overwhelming majority of its revenue from online advertising, which it can only do because of how much data it collects from its users. “For me, it was about limiting as best I could how much information Google knows about me, removing as much as I can for things they already know about me, and then wanting to support companies who put privacy first.”
 For anyone who has wanted to take a similar plunge into a Google-less life, here are some of the tips that Parker shared with us.
Start with the individual—Search, Chrome, and Android
Getting rid of everything Google product all at once could be a disaster, as there are simply too many services and products to track. Instead, Parker began the first steps of his experiment by only removing the products that directly affected him.
“I started with the easiest things—at least I think the easiest things,” Parker said. “The ones that have maybe the least tendrils into other things. They don’t affect anybody but yourself.”
For Parker, that meant removing and finding new providers for Google Search and the web browser Google Chrome. When it comes to stepping away from Android devices, Parker found that easy—he’s been using iPhones for years.
In finding an alternative to Google Search, Parker offered two suggestions: DuckDuckGo and the search engine Startpage, both of which claim to refuse any user data tracking for revenue purposes. Instead, the companies say they serve purely contextual ads based on the searches themselves—like showing ads for Nike and Adidas for anyone looking for shoes—and they do not record or keep data on users’ specific searches. In fact, Parker said, Startpage actually works with Google to deliver search results, but the company tells users that it refuses to collect user IP addresses, device information, and browsing history.
“You don’t have to track people to make money,” Parker said, “and Startpage is proof of that.”
In looking for a different, privacy-focused browser, Parker suggested his personal choice, Mozilla’s Firefox, and also the up-and-coming browser Brave.
Bigger shifts with Gmail and GCal
Having found different solutions for searching and browsing the Internet, Parker said he then focused his attention on finding alternatives to Google services that impact those around him.
 “[Google Search and Google Chrome were] the first tier, and then, the next one, which is harder—a lot harder, because it involves other people—are Google email and Google calendar, Gmail and Gcal,” Parker said, “I’ve got shared calendars with my family and I am not going to expect them to drop Google like I am trying to do, so for that reason, I’m going to be stuck there for a little while, but I can minimize it.”
After researching the many options out there, Parker found two email providers—one that fulfills much of Google’s functionality and integration with a calendar function, and another that provides end-to-end encryption on messages sent and received between users of the same program.
The first suggestion is Fastmail. Fastmail, Parker said, is a for-profit email provider that users pay to use through a monthly subscription. The email provider also has a calendar solution that works directly with its main product. Even better, Parker said, is that Fastmail respects its users’ data.
“[Fastmail] explicitly say they don’t mine your data, and they are privacy-focused even if they’re not end-to-end encrypted by default,” Parker said. “It’s a really great service and it has the full suite of email, calendar and contacts, among other things. I use it for all my business stuff and some personal stuff.”
For user who wish to prioritize security, Parker suggested ProtonMail, which, by default, provides end-to-end encryption for all emails sent between ProtonMail users. That means that even if your emails get intercepted by a third party along route, those emails cannot be read by anyone other than you and your intended recipient.
More complexity with Google Drive and Google Docs
For users who want to take even more data out of Google’s view, there are just a couple final products to remove from the daily workflow. Those are the cloud storage service Google Drive and the cloud-based word processor Google Docs.
 For each product, Parker encountered headaches and obstacles, but he managed to find alternatives that both respected his privacy and provided similar feature sets and functionality.
In finding a proper cloud storage platform, Parker recognized that some of the major players, such as Box and Dropbox, did not provide meaningful encryption for users’ data that would prevent the companies from scanning and gleaning information from user files.
Parker offered several suggestions depending on what users want most. If a user wants to securely send a private file to someone else, he recommended the online services Swiss Transfer and Mega, which can give users the option to set certain parameters on how they share a file, including how long a shareable link is active and whether the file requires a password to access.
For pure storage options, Parker recommended the service Sync.com because of its client-side encryption. Many of the cloud storage providers today, Parker explained, will promise to keep your data secure, but they will also hold the decryption keys to anything that you store on their servers.
“Machines will review the files that you have stored on these drives, either for advertising purposes or, a lot of times it’s for copyright violations,” Parker said. “They’ll look and see—are you trading movies or music with other people? And they’ll flag that and give you grief.”
But after extensive research, Parker found that Sync.com actually provided users with a type of encryption that the company cannot work around.
“[Sync.com is] end-to-end encrypted,” Parker said, “meaning that, even if behind the scenes, Sync.com uses Amazon Web Services, Amazon can’t see what my files are.”
As to finding an alternative to Google Docs, Parker said he struggled a great deal, simply because Google Docs works so well. After first trying to adopt a solution that Parker said is “secure, it’s private, it’s end-to-end encrypted—as far as checking boxes, it checks them,” Parker grew disappointed with the solution’s interface and its sluggish response time. Then, a second option called OnlyOffice was, as Parker put it, “not for the faint of heart” because of a high technical bar which could require renting out cloud servers.
The best, most accessible alternative, then, Parker said, is Skiff, which has an easy-to-use interface, but which only has a replacement for Google Docs, and not for the other, related tools, like Google Spreadsheets or Google Slides. Skiff’s tool can be found at Skiff.org.
Step by step
Taking Google out of your life can be a long and complex process, but it doesn’t have to be hard at the very beginning. And remember, if you ever start to doubt what you’re doing, think about what made you want to start the process. If you’re anything like Parker, you’re motivated to keep your data private and out of the hands of a company that is making money off of you and your browsing habits.
“At the end of the day, we are in an age of surveillance capitalism,” Parker said, “and Google is a publicly traded company with a fiduciary responsibility to maximize profits for their shareholders. Absent privacy regulations in the United States, the financial incentives are just too great to ignore. That’s money off the table.”
Parker emphasized that until Google creates—and there’s no evidence this will happen—a version of its products that users can pay for with their own funds rather than with their own privacy, that users should assume that “at any moment, any Google product unfortunately can and probably will, somehow, monetize your data.”
As the saying goes, Parker said, “if the product is free, then you are probably the product.”
 By Staff
May 23rd, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Data collected locally suggests that the Burlington seat is still very much up for grabs.
Jason Octavo, a Sheridan College Journalism student about to graduate this year, has been spending hours outside supermarket and LCBO stores – inside malls and in Spencer Smith Park. North and south of the QEW.
By the time the survey work is completed he will have interviewed more than 750 asking the following questions:
Question 1: Do you know there’s going to be an election in June?
Question 2: Do you know anything about the issues?
Question 3: Are you going to vote (if not, why)?
Question 4: Would you like to say who you will vote for?
We have added a 5th question: Is there a political party or candidate that you are favouring?
Are the numbers relevant, do they mean anything? They are certainly quite different than the province wide numbers where the Progressive Conservatives have a clear lead.
That province wide sentiment is quite a bit different than what is taking place in Burlington.
 Impressive data – can the solid 2018 results be improved – enough to win the seat? The decision making in Burlington is informed by the significant number of New Blue Party signs that are showing up – especially in the rural part of the city; the size of the Muslim vote and if it will turn out for the Liberal candidate. And will the NDP vote locally continue to grow from the record vote level in the last provincial election. They have raised more money than ever this time around and have a spacious office set up with a motivated team of volunteers.
The Progressive Conservatives did themselves no favours when they pulled their candidates province wide from taking part in debate or interviews.
They see themselves as leading and don’t want to have a candidate say something that will blow up in their faces. There is very little being said by PC candidates on social media.
Everything comes from the Premier and so far none of the other candidates have been able to lay a glove on him.
Will voters be disgusted with the way they have been treated? Not the base vote for certain. Winning is all that counts. The voter be damned.
Octavo will be in the field up to May 31st – if there is a break in the news flow on something that could shift voter sentiments he will back back out until the day before the election.
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