 By Pepper Parr
July 17th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Joelle Goddard-Cooling said it all – “I can see that the writing is on the wall” – Brant Street is going to have at least two tall buildings opposite city hall.
Despite strong arguments for something significantly different, Ward 2 city Councillor and candidate for Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, city council voted 5-2 to approve the Staff Recommendation for a 17 storey building with an additional floor with amenities
 Joelle’s on Brant Cooling, in a letter to members of Council said she and her husband operate a business on Brant Street and are “bracing ourselves for years of construction, noise, traffic interruption, mess, parking issues, loss of business. With my resident hat on, I have spoken to many of my friends and neighbours downtown and concern is very real – I hear that “this is not why we moved here” a lot.
“That being said, we have chosen to do business here and have had continued growth in our business for twenty two years this September. We landed at 457 Brant Street after three previous moves, at that time there were very few businesses surrounding us. We have been given credit for encouraging some of the revival we saw happening on Brant Street over 15 years ago. In fact, I personally was presented with a Queen’s Jubilee Award for my encouragement, mentoring, BDBA volunteering and genuine marketing and promotion for the downtown. We have watched businesses come and go, developers assemble parcels and leave unsightly empty spaces and we have also watched businesses come and thrive.
 Centre Market tucked in a parking lot for Sunday only operations – gives the core a level of civility other parts of the city just don’t have. “Development on Brant will definitely displace some of the anchor, destination businesses – ones that have created like minded environments for our longtime customers and who support downtown through lease hold improvements, street beautification and branding and marketing. A shining example is the Centro market every Sunday which suits the customer we are all trying to attract and which provides and amazing sense of community for the local residents.
“This is a lot of work for the organizers and volunteers and it is not a money making opportunity for Centro but a genuine community benefit. I have spoken to numerous other business owners who have shared their thoughts with me. Some have a good relationship with their property owner and are actively contemplating relocation. Others with a deep history confessed their worry with options of retirement, bankruptcy, and the challenges & uncertainty through the construction years.
“Those new to the retail area have hedged their bets on our amazing downtown and I can’t answer their questions on if Brant Street will be down to one lane through the construction? What types of retail can we look forward to once these building are erected? It seems that it has been difficult to fill this type of space over at Pearl and Pine.
Will there be many small spaces for (higher than now) rent in the future? What stipulations are being put into place to ensure that what goes in has value to all of the new residents and helps to build a sustainable downtown – the one that is visioned?
“Will we have additional police presence, garbage and street cleanup and snow removal? Will city staff, the developers, the BDBA, Economic Development and the residents be able to work together to address all of these issues and concerns? We have loading zone issues and parking struggles now. These are all priorities to businesses new, old and to come.
 Keeping it all there is the challenge. “What can we do now to set up the downtown for success in the future? Discussions with Brian Dean recommend that you endorse a retail study by the BEDC, with the support of BDBA that takes a true and very hard look at current and future retail trends downtown.
“This is mandatory as a tool to guide redevelopment. It will outline the need to retain successful businesses, adapt the size of commercial units to meet the needs of small business, help existing and future business understand the impact of demographics and spending habits of the next generation of downtown residents. It will guide and help the BDBA in partnership with commercial developers better merchandise and recruit meaningful and sustainable businesses that will help to optimize our commercial mix.
“I will go one step further and ask that you consult with the retail, service and hospitality experts that already exist downtown who are very aware of who their customer is and what is needed to flourish. Value in this study is through internal resources – we are at a critical point where the people that live this every day need to have their retail experience leveraged. We would welcome this opportunity.
To recap, here are some of the concerns we hope can be addressed:
Transition planning and support for the current tenants – relocation, assistance through construction street closures – giving this business value and seeking their input
Sidewalk closures – we need the sidewalks open, this construction will create a dead retail space from the Elgin Promenade to Centro if not kept as a pedestrian through way on both sides of the street
Parking lane closures cannot happen, parking is a huge issue now and during construction
What is the traffic flow plan? The traffic study was highly defended last Tuesday night but people are not buying it. We need confidence in a plan here.
Loading zones – how do we attract businesses that will sustain a walkable community without these?
Cleanliness, Beautification and Pollution. Our streetscape has been neglected for years while undergoing the streetscape study, now with the development we are told to wait until the development is done to fix the sidewalks. We have been the closest to the development of the Berkley – what will be done to keep Brant Street enjoyable under the unavoidable noise, congestion, construction materials, detours etc pollution?
How is the coordination of TWO tall buildings AND a hydro burying project on James going to be managed by the City?
To maintain some beauty in the area, empty storefronts need to be addressed. How about working with the property owners and developers to utilize space in a positive way – ie pop ups, creative art installations, a unified expectation of maintenance and appearance, pest control, co-operation with the BDBA for improved window coverings or branding? What can we expect here?
General Safety of the area is a concern, we know the City works hard to keep us safe, we did experience a gas line problem at the John & Caroline site and it was scary. We need a sense of protection for emergency management – ie power failure, gas lines, water table issues
Vibrancy? Will the developments be built in a way that will accommodate rooftop or first floor restaurants? Will there be attention made to create the charm and character desired by the residents at the first floor level? Will the public space be useful – what will be happening here in the open area(s) that isn’t happening in the Elgin Promenade or City Hall open area(s)?
 Joelle Goddard Cooling “We have talked heard the phrase win-win the past few weeks. Residents, business owners and everyone who cares wants to be involved. I truly hope that beyond the mandated development this council put value in what exists here now and has been here in the past.”
 By Staff
July 10th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Candidate for the Office of Mayor and Aldershot resident Greg Woodruff wants the planning department to be a little clearer with the language used to report about mobility hubs.
 Greg Woodruff – candidate for Mayor. In an Open letter to Burlington Council, Woodruff asks that:
“… Council and staff start using the terms Mobility Hub (Metrolinx) and Major Transit Station Areas (Places to Grow) properly for the various GO stations.
 There are ten platforms on the south side of the Burlington GO station – which is described as a mobility hub: a place where buses, cars, taxi and even bicycles arrive to drop off and pick up people who have taken a GO train. “The term Mobility Hub is being used to refer to the 3 GO stations. This is causing confusion with the public as to what exactly our responsibility might be for redevelopment of these regions. The Burlington GO station is indeed flagged as a Metrolinx Mobility Hub and comes under specific recommendations.
 The city has four mobility hubs. “The Aldershot GO station and Appleby GO station are not designated as Mobility Hubs by Metrolinx. They are not and never have been “Mobility Hubs” in any way except for the city’s loose language that is now grouping them together.
“The only major specification for Major Transit Station Areas (MTSA) comes from Places to Grow and calls for a modest 150 people or jobs per hectare. This can easily be accomplished with low rise buildings.
 All the Mobility Hub attention focuses on the three GO stations. The city is referring to the transit terminal on John street as an access hub. Other hubs are identified as gate way hubs. These are the boundaries for the Downtown mobility hub. “Thus the 30 story hi-rises proposed by staff around Aldershot and Appleby are a complete construction of the City of Burlington. There is no direction from any group that calls for this. The hi-rises in these area are self-imposed. I think it important this be very clear to the public.
“I would request that Council adopt the proper terminology when discussing these matters and direct staff to use proper descriptions of “Metrolinx Mobiltiy Hub” and “Major Transit Station Area” when discussing these areas.”
 By Pepper Parr
July 7th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The candidate we expected to run in ward 5 against incumbent Paul Sharman filed papers yesterday at city hall.
Mary Alice St. James, a retired school principal who moved into retirement while principal at Pauline Johnson elementary school.
The Gazette first crossed paths with Ms St James when a recording was being done of the students at Pauline Johnson elementary school singing O’Canada as part of a project that was going to co-ordinate then mix the recording of a national broadcast done at 79 schools.
 School principal Mary Alice St James, upper left corner, with students at her school doing a recording of O’Canada. St. James moved to Burlington in 1982 . Her parents and brother came to the city in 1979; she was completing her final year at McGill (Bachelor of Education English/Phys. Ed.)
Her Mother, Kaye, taught at W.E. Breckon, her Dad, Lou St. James was an engineer with Bailey Controls a company that evolved into ABB. He was part of the transition team that had the company moving to Burlington from Montreal.
Mary Alice and her brother co-owned a townhouse in Walker’s Heights and then a home in Headon Forest.
Mary Alice and her husband Ron have owned their Oak Crescent home in Burlington for 24 years. Their sons now in their early twenties went to Pineland and Nelson High School.
This engaged, involved family has done much over the years to support Burlington.
 Mary Alice St James Mary Alice is going to use a “Burlington at its Best!” slogan in her campaign that will be managed by her sons.
Her strategy team is “stoked and ready to make a positive difference throughout Burlington.”
The web site is under construction. In this early stage of the election campaign St. James intends to “listen and use skill sets and experiences to hear what people want and then to deliver as a city and regional Councillor.
St. James is a pro “respectful building” advocate – “just not 23 stories tall”.
She was an initiator of the Shoreacres Character Study where she expressed concerns about established neighbourhoods and the challenges residents faced living normal lives during infill massing (7 days per week, 7:00am to 7:00pm)
Mary Alice is pro tree bylaws; she made sure she planted trees at every school she worked at – 30 were planted on the PJ playground.
She spoke at the Blue Water Place/Avondale OMB hearing and raised concerns with a builders’ townhouse plan; she gave a response similar to the many delegations she made before city council where her approach was to be respectful and deliver a well thought out delegation.
Mary Alice said she “feels that in a Councillor’s role she can continue and heighten what she is already doing to support the most vulnerable, including the increasing number of Seniors in Burlington. Mary Alice hopes to assist in creating Bike Lanes that work and transit that makes more sense and enables liveability in a meaningful way.
 Mary Alice St James, ward 5 candidate Mary Alice said she is “currently collecting data on varied fronts and will want to hear concerns as well as creative and intelligent ideas for solutions. Mary Alice believes Burlington’s’ citizens are intelligent people who want to be heard. She is a listener who values the “smarts” of every age group and lifestyle.
This is perhaps the first time Paul Sharman, two term Councillor for ward 5, has faced a candidate with deep roots in the community.
Mary Alice does not live in ward 5 – she leaves a couple of football field lengths on the western side of Appleby Line, the ward boundary. “The people who know me” said St James, “are the parents who had children in schools I taught at on both sides of the ward boundary.”
At one point, before becoming Mayor, Rick Goldring represented ward 5, although he didn’t live in that ward.
 By Pepper Parr
July 7th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The story about the milkweed plants in a garden was, for the most part, gathered electronically.
There wasn’t a chance to meet and do an interview with the woman who got a note from a bylaw enforcement officer saying the milkweed plants on her garden had to go. Burlington, Ontario considers milkweed, the only plant that monarch butterflies lay their eggs on, a weed that must be destroyed or removed.
In Burlington bylaws are enforced when someone complains – and someone did complain.
 Doreen Nicol – an actionist! They chose the wrong women to push around.
When she read the bylaw notice Doreen Nicoll began making phone calls and lining up support and contacting local environmentalists to see if there were any alternative solutions. “I did this’ said Nicoll, “because trimming milkweed to the required height of 8 inches or less means that the tops of the plants containing all of the leaves, which are home to valuable monarch eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalis, would be removed and that would have devastating results.” Nicoll argued that the milkweed was a plant – not a weed and that it was an important part of the environment.
 A milkweed plant – home to valuable monarch eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalis. She reported that a very wise environmentalist, who wished to remain anonymous, told her about the time her neighbour reported her for growing milkweed in her naturalized garden. It seems the neighbour wanted the city to force this woman to grow grass instead of flowers.
Nicoll had removed the grass “in my very tiny front yard and erected a very low wall to contain my new garden. Originally, I planted native, heritage plants, most of them edible and all of them able to survive on rain water alone.”
“Over the years there have been plenty of transitions. Some plants thrive for years only to suddenly decline or disappear and be replaced by a completely different variety. This was survival of the fittest playing out in my garden thanks to the effects of climate change.”
The end result was the city notice being withdrawn and Nicoll being told that the bylaw on weeds is being re-written to allow milkweed plants.
 Doreen Nicoll is an actionist; a word that isn’t part of the lexicon most of us use. She has been politically active in the past; she ran against Carol D’Amelio for a city council seat in 2003 – came in second and wasn’t able to give D’Amelio much of a run for her money.
D’Amelio got 55.5% of the vote; Nicoll got 25.9%; the city wide turnout was 16.55% of the eligible voters.
Born in Scotland Doreen came to Canada in 1963 was raised in Ajax, went to Ryerson to where she studied food and English. She also went to George Brown College and described herself as a Journeyman Chef.
Nicoll worked for a period of time in the hospitality business and went back to school at Western University and became a teacher. She now teaches Family Studies for the Peel Board of Education.
The family moved to Burlington in June of 1997
Somewhere along the way, after the five children were born and raised, she began to write. Her focus was gender violence. In a piece she did for the Hamilton Spectator on the relationships between men and woman she wrote: “Their actions send a clear message to their own wives, daughters, sons as well as the neighbourhood at large, that men feel they have the innate right to mistreat and intimidate women.”
 Nicoll writes from a social justice perspective. There are some things that are just plain wrong and she has the courage of her convictions to stand up and say so.
She has won several awards; a couple of “Maggies”, (Hamilton Independent Media Awards) and an Anvil – both awards that come out of the Hamilton community.
This time Nicoll was fighting for the environment – the right to grow milkweed in her garden.
We have no idea what it will be next: but of this we can be certain – there will be a next.
 By Doreen Nicoll
July 5th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
In 2004 I had the grass in my very tiny front yard removed and a very low wall erected to contain my new garden. Originally, I planted native, heritage plants, most of them edible and all of them able to survive on rain water alone.
Over the years there have been plenty of transitions. Some plants thrive for years only to suddenly decline or disappear and be replaced by a completely different variety. This was survival of the fittest playing out in my garden thanks to the effects of climate change.
During that time, milkweed started to grow, probably a throwback to when this land I live on was farmed. I’ve also purchased milkweed and over the past decade or so and all of it has done quite well. This is a particularly good year.
 Milkweed – din dins for the Monarch butterfly and a native plant in Burlington resident Doreen Nicoll’s garden.
But, this is also the year that I discovered that Burlington, Ontario considers milkweed, the only plant that monarch butterflies lay their eggs on, a weed that must be destroyed or removed.
On Friday, June 29, 2018, I returned from work to find a Notice of Violation on my front door. The notice stated that I was in contravention of By-law #12-2011 Part 3 3.1(b), which states, “Every owner of property shall ensure that grass and ground cover is trimmed or cut to a height of 20 centimeters (8 inches) or less and shall ensure weeds are removed or destroyed between May 1 and October 15 each calendar year.”
The Notice of Violation stated the require action was, “Remove or destroy milkweeds from front yard abutting the sidewalk and adjacent property” within seven days. So, by Thursday, July 5.
Again, let me be clear that my milkweeds are growing on my property and not on city land and definitely are not invading a neighbouring property.
 A Monarch butterfly – is that a milkweed plant in the background? So, I began contacting local environmentalists to see if there were any alternative solutions. I did this because trimming milkweed to the required height of 8 inches or less means that the tops of the plants containing all of the leaves, which are home to valuable monarch eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalis, would be removed and that would have devastating results.
A very wise environmentalist, who wished to remain anonymous, told me about the time her neighbour reported her for growing milkweed in her naturalized garden. It seems the neighbour wanted the city to force this woman to grow grass instead of flowers.
Well, when she showed the by-law officer her receipt from a local nursery for the purchase of the offending plants she was told that everything was okay because clearly a nursery would not sell weeds to the public. The Notice of Violation was withdrawn.
So, in this time of the Suzuki foundation selling milkweed, documentaries like Metamorphosis showcasing school children planting milkweed to encourage the proliferation of monarch butterflies, and people being encouraged to cut back or stop all together watering lawns and gardens, I am perplexed why the City of Burlington is insisting I destroy this native plant that’s imperative to the lifecycle of monarch butterflies.
Here’s a thought, as we’re entering a municipal election this fall: why not make milkweed an election issue?
Monarchs deserve our protection, as does the water that’s wasted every summer on keeping grass green and non-native species blooming all summer long.
I would argue you don’t even have to live in Burlington or Halton to voice your opinion, because monarchs and water affect everyone across the province and country.
I encourage you to make your voice heard. Tell the City of Burlington, Ontario that you value native plants like milkweed, which nurture valuable monarch butterflies and survive on local rain water.
Here’s a list of email addresses so you can share your thoughts on this matter:
Mayor Rick Goldring mayor@burlington.ca
Councillor Marianne Mead Ward (who is running for Mayor) marianne.meedward@burlington.ca
Councillor Rick Craven rick.craven@burlington.ca
Councillor John Taylor john.taylor@burlington.ca
Councillor Jack Dennison Jack.Dennison@burlington.ca
Councillor Paul Sharma paul.sharman@burlington.ca
Councillor Blair Lancaster blair.lancaster@burlington.ca
After all, isn’t a weed simply a flower growing in what suburban society mistakenly believes is ‘the wrong place?’ Tell that to the monarchs.
What Ms Nicoll may not realize is that in Burlington by laws are enforced on a responsive basis. By law enforcement officer do not go looking for bylaw violations – they get complaint calls and they go out and investigate.
Someone fingered Ms Nicoll.
 Doreen Nicoll, a Burlington resident, is a feminist and a member of several community organizations working diligently to end poverty, hunger and gendered violence. She writes regularly for Raise the Hammer, a Hamilton community based on-line publication where this article first appeared.
 By Pepper Parr
July 4th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
It will not be a sleepy summer with lots of time off and getting away early in the evenings for many at city hall. Members of Council are going to be pressed with the size of the work load as well.
There are four developments coming before Council that long term will add as many as 2000 people to the population of the city.
 Looking south on Brant. The proposed 24 story structure with the approved 23 storey structure shown as shadowed. It will be a different downtown core when these two are completed. The biggie is the proposed 23 storey structure that will, if approved. go up at the SW corner of Brant and James and run south to the Elgin Promenade and west to John Street. The Planning department (It has been re-named Department of City Building) has written up a recommendation that suggests 18 storeys would be preferred. The recommendation is complex and not easily explained.
The approval of a 23 storey structure on the north side of James and Brant didn’t make the City Building department job for the 409 development any easier.
 Mayor Goldring in conversation with the President of Revenue Properties, the developer of the 409 Brant project. From the “what’s in it for me” perspective there the following reported community benefits if the pro000ject gets built:
$250,000 for purchase of up to 6 assisted housing units by Halton Region, or similar contribution to housing fund held at the city
$100,000 for improvement of civic square
$50,000 for improvement of downtown transit terminal
$25,000 towards a downtown Burlington Farmer’s Market
$25,000 towards active transportation links (walking/cycling) in the Elgin Promenade area
widening sidewalks (Brant/James/John) – indirect benefit of $250,000
public easement at Brant/James of 16×16 – indirect benefit of $75,000
implement streetscape guidelines for expanded setbacks and open space easement for Brant/James/John – indirect benefit of $150,000
retain heritage attributes – indirect benefit of $300.
 The planners are requiring each developer two cut into the corner of their buildings to open up the view of Civic Square. The 421 Brant development, on the right, has been approved. The 409 Brant development is before Council next week. The really interesting one is the $100,000 to gussy up Civic Square. The city has required the developers of each building on the corner of Brant and James to cut an angle into the corner of the buildings to enlarge the view of Civic Square.
Deputy city manager Mary Lou Tanner told the Gazette of her fondness for city hall as a structure. Some in the planning department refer to the building as iconic.
There are clearly plans to give the Square a new look – that project didn’t make it to the “fully engaged” public agenda.
The Tremaine Dundas development has been a long time coming. That initiative is in the north west part of the city on the border with Oakville.
The ADI Links development that overlooks Bronte Creek has given life to that part of the city.
At some point the quarry operation and brick manufacturing plant in the area will give way to development and add to the vitality of that part of the city.
 Exceptional use of land – should become quite a community wen completed. The site is one of Burlington’s last undeveloped significant Greenfield areas; the Secondary Plan area presents an important opportunity to create a distinct community in Burlington.
The lands are characterized by the presence of significant natural heritage features and areas, potential access to future higher order transit routes and important remnants of the area’s built and cultural heritage.
The purpose of the secondary plan is to provide a planning framework that will guide future development in the Tremaine Dundas area. The plan responds to and develops the area with a mixed use option to accommodate residential, employment and mixed uses while ensuring that identified natural heritage features throughout the area are protected, connected/linked and, where possible, enhanced.
 There is the potential for a lovely community if the developer does it right. Access to major roads with a lot of green space. This one is a couple of years away. Plan area is approximately 133 hectares with the developable area being approximately 50 hectares excluding the natural heritage system. The existing uses located within the area include a school bus terminal on Dundas Street and two single detached residences (the Crook- Norton House and a separate property fronting Tremaine Road), the existing Highway 407 right of way, a functional hydro corridor, CN railway line as well as the extensive Bronte Creek valley lands that set the natural environment character for the remainder.
 Most of the intensification is taking place at the back of the property where stacked townhouses will replace less dense housing. The development on Prospect west of Brant is for two blocks of stacked townhouses, each containing 50 housing units plus 130 parking spaces (including 9 visitor spaces).
 Fifty housing units will replace the eight in place now. The two existing fourplex buildings will be demolished. The eight-storey apartment building will remain.
This development is classic intensification. The structures that are being demolished left a lot of space for children to play and adults t sit outside. Times are changing.
 Townhouses in Aldershot – 38 units. Another development in Aldershot will redevelop nine standard townhouse units along the northern half of the site, 17 back-to-back townhouse units on the southern half of the property and 12 back-to-back townhouse units on the eastern side of the property for a total of 38 units; 76 parking spaces, plus 5 visitor spaces are proposed.
All the chatter that the developers bring to council about how they are helping the city meet the growth targets the province has set begs the question: Have we not already met those targets? And is there anyone actually counting what is in the pipeline and where is the city relative to the targets?
 By Staff
June 30th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington has always made a big deal out of Canada Day.
Every municipality does something but that park on the edge of the lake is so enticing – everyone gathers there.
 The city doesn’t disappoint.
The schedule is packed;
The day start with a yoga class and end with a fireworks display. Parts of the day’s events are going to be simulcast by 102.9 K-LITE FM during the fireworks display. Participants can listen to music synchronized to the fireworks through their mobile phone or on the radio from wherever the fireworks are visible.
Fun activities planned in the park include:
 Yoga at the compass at 8:30 a.m.
Citizenship Ceremony at 9 a.m.
5K run and 1K kids run at 10 a.m.
Scholars in Collars dog training performance at 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Face-painting, balloon animals, photo booth, hair spray artist and inflatables from noon to 5 p.m. presented by Glad Tidings Church
Canadian hockey player and Canadian Mountie stilt walkers from noon to 6 p.m.
The opening ceremonies begin at noon with the Burlington Teen Tour Band kicking off the festivities at the main stage.
Entertainment on the main stage will include:
 Karen Thornton at 1 p.m.
Melissa Bel at 2 p.m.
Mount Farewell at 3 p.m.
Symphony on the Bay at 4:30 p.m.
The Hockey Circus Show at 5:30 p.m.
Felicia McMinn Band at 6:30 p.m.
The Hockey Circus Show at 7:30 p.m.
Johannes Linstead at 8:30 p.m.
Fireworks presented by BUNZL at 10 p.m.
Downtown parking will be tough to find. Every organization with a parking lot will be offering to let you park for a fee. Think about considering other transportation options: cycling, walking, car pooling or Burlington Transit.
A fully accessible free shuttle service will run from noon to 11 p.m. The shuttle will run approximately every 20 minutes from the Burlington GO Station (north side) to the downtown bus terminal. A free bike corral will be available near the Waterfront Hotel for cyclists to secure their bikes.
Other Canada Day Activities
The city’s outdoor pool locations are open for unlimited access to recreational swimming for only $4.40 per person; $3.05 after 5 p.m. Hours for Canada Day are as follows:
Nelson Pool – 10:30 – 8 p.m.
LaSalle Splash Park – 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Mountainside Pool 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
 Many people see the Terry Fox run as a unique thing that happened in Canada and was the result of one Canadian’s supreme effort. The Canadian flag just seems to be a part of the event – and there were plenty of them handed out. Take a walk on a nature trail at Kerncliffe Park, play bocce at LaSalle Park or go for a picnic
All six of the city’s spray park locations are open and always free. For more information, visit burlington.ca/splashpads.
When you look at the flag – think about what is going on south of us and be grateful for what we have going for s.
 By Pepper Parr
June 4th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Will Burlington send Jane McKenna back to Queen’s Park or will she get there because a majority of the people who vote on Thursday want Doug Ford to lead the province?
 Jane McKenna once told the Gazette hat her Father told her to have one really good suit and wear it often – that will get you the best job you will ever have. In the event that Jane McKenna gets sworn in as a Member of the Legislature for a second time what might she do on a second occasion that she was not able to do during her first trip – she did tell the Canadian Federation of University Woman (CFUW) audience at Central High School that she was sitting as an Opposition member and wasn’t able to do very much.
Does that mean that if she sits in the Legislature as a member of an opposition the citizens of Burlington can expect another lack lustre performance?
Watching Ms McKenna for four years as a Member of the opposition we are hard pressed to recall anything she did.
 McKenna speaking to the Burlington Progressive Association. Our recollection is that she chose to become what can be best described as a Progressive Conservative power groupy. Being attached to or near people elected to office seemed to be an end in itself for Mc McKenna. We never had the impression that Ms McKenna actually knew what she was doing.
She was given different roles by then Leader of the Opposition Tim Hudak who, in the fullness of time, came to the conclusion that he could better serve in the private sector and left government to be was replaced by Patrick Brown which required Ms McKenna to re-align and attach herself to the new leader.
During the four year hiatus that Ms Mc McKenna spent outside government our understanding is that she served as a lobbyist for the nuclear power industry. It isn’t possible to confirm whether or not Mc McKenna served in that capacity – she made no mention of that work during the CFUW debate.
What we did hear from Ms McKenna was a regurgitation of the Doug Ford plan for the province. In this capacity Ms McKenna did the same sterling job she did when she explained the Tim Hudak platform promising to create a million jobs and to reduce the public service by 100,000 jobs through attrition – resulting in his math being challenged by the other parties and various analysts.
 McKenna at the Central High school fund raiser. In September of 2012, after listening to McKenna address the Chamber of Commerce, the Gazette said:
“Jane McKenna is growing as a politician. A little less stridency, more reflection and over time she could become a Charlotte Whitton – all the Tories that matter in this town will remember her – and nod approvingly. Can McKenna make that transition?. It will be a challenge.”
It proved to be a challenge she was unable to overcome – but she is back. The allure of public office is something she just cannot resist.
In her first election McKenna defeated Karmel Sakran. She was then defeated by Eleanor McMahon who she now faces in 2018 – along with a much stronger NDP candidate.
 Different times – different look. The 2018 campaign. The two McKenna nominations had a tinge of discord about the. The first in 2011was a 15 minute affair; the second in 2017 was mired by controversy and doubt that led a number of people to walk away from the association.
There was a time when Ontario had sound stable government led by John Robarts and Bill Davis, who might have been bland but the province prospered and there was stable government without the histrionics.
What have we done to deserve the current Progressive offering?
Background links:
The first nomination for Jane McKenna
The second nomination for Jane McKenna
 For a deeper look at how McKenna has served the community use the search box at the top right of the front page.
Salt with Pepper is the views, opinions and observations of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette.
 By Ray Rivers
June 1, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
I got an EV (electric vehicle) earlier this year. It is really quiet and really fast. No more oil spills on the driveway, no more stinking exhaust fumes nor visits to drive clean, and no more oil change stickers plastered on my windshield. And best of all I now just smile when I pass gas stations with their pixel boards displaying those ever escalating pump prices. I feed my EV on a diet of electrons from the comfort of my garage every evening. So I can say thanks but no thanks to Doug Ford and his maybe ten cent gas price cut.
 There are thousands of small solar panel installations like this across the province – they work very well and in many cases provide revenue for the owners. The oil industry is dirty and toxic and otherwise environmentally destructive. And the oil sands are arguably the worst example of all that. So I’m one of those who has always been in favour of ending the subsidies for that sector – or at least offering the same level of subsidy for greener energy sources, like wind and solar – to level the playing field and encourage the transition to green. Canada is the fifth or sixth largest oil and gas producer in the world but we’re also the seventh biggest in wind power.
Despite government promises to the contrary, the oil industry still feeds at the public trough to the tune of over $3 billion dollars a year. So I wasn’t really surprised when the federal government announced it was buying up the Trans Mountain pipeline from Texas based Kinder Morgan (KM). KM is the son of Enron, the notorious and scandal plagued energy trading company which was once the fifth largest corporation in the US, and which became the largest bankruptcy in US history ($74 B) sending its CEO to prison for fraud.
Critics of the Finance Minster abound on this topic, as on everything else. Those opposed to oil sands and pipelines, like the Green Party, Neil Young, Al Gore and just about every environmental group, could be heard screaming out ‘climate change’ so loudly I could hear them even in the quiet of my EV. And many of those who support the pipeline, as does the opposition federal conservative leader, still found fault, complaining that the feds had paid too much, or they shouldn’t have had to pay at all.
 There is this huge inventory of gasoline and diesel powered cars that are going to need fuel. $4.5 billion is a lot of money. And then there will be at least another seven or eight billion more to complete the twinning and actually get the diluted bitumen moving. But finance minister Morneau is confident that the project is economically viable – after all the global demand for oil has been increasing almost every year and is likely to continue to do so into the near future. There is this huge inventory of gasoline and diesel powered cars which we’ve acquired over the years, and still more being sold as we speak.
Too bad Mr. Harper isn’t in the House to quell the ranks of his party by explaining why he bought into the Hibernia offshore oil project when it was failing, or why he decided to invest heavily into GM and Chrysler when they were heading for receivership. And what about Bill Davis and Pierre Trudeau buying into Suncor and saving Peter Lougheed’s sorry butt after Atlantic Richfield pulled out of the oil sands? And didn’t Pierre also create PetroCan? And none of this bankrupted the nation. Besides, it’s only right that Justin should try to save the industry his father helped build.
Like the railways and Trans Canada highways It is what Canadian governments since confederation have always done. And while many Albertans will always hate the Liberals because of something in the 80’s called the National Energy Program, at least the the political leader with the most at stake right now, Alberta premier Notley, doesn’t. She praised the move and offered to back up the deal with a couple billion dollars from her own treasury.
 Close to 100,000 people work in the oil and gas extraction business There are almost a hundred thousand Canadians involved in the oil and gas extraction business and most of those are in Alberta. But while this is a very important sector for Alberta, it is also essential today for the country as a whole. And without pipelines to convey the disgusting black gold to foreign markets offshore we are left with the railways and selling to and through the Americans, who are becoming more self-sufficient in petroleum products every year. Without the pipelines we are told that leaves about $15 billion off the table for us.
The Trudeau government’s intervention is a lifeline for the Alberta leader. And why not? For one thing she isn’t a Tory so she won’t be insulting him the way Alberta’s opposition leader Jason Kenny recently did. For another Notley gets climate change and wants to do something about it. Kenny doesn’t, much as Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe and Ontario’s Doug Ford don’t.
Notley, like the PM understands that while she must serve today’s market demands with her provinces petroleum products she needs to be thinking ahead to tomorrows markets. Which is why she introduced a carbon tax, and is diversifying Alberta’s economy, and moving the province’s electricity system off coal, as Ontario has done. For that is the future that we all should look to – the day when we will be driving electric cars and breathing cleaner air.
Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Crude Oil Demand – Fossil Fuel Subsidies – Renewables –
By Pepper Parr
May 30th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Andrew Drummond, the NDP candidate for Burlington, had no idea that things were going to work out the way they have.
He has been one of those behind the scenes political workers for the Burlington New Democrats – worked diligently and hoped that maybe at some point his political party would form a government for the province.
Early in his political life Drummond was a Young Progressive Conservative. Now he is a parent with two children edging into the teen years. Works as marketing type in Toronto and does the necessary trying to just keep up.
 It is a busier campaign office now. He felt he was ready for his first campaign but wasn’t able to take time off and devote himself to the campaign. The objective for the NDP in Burlington has been to keep the name before the public; showing the flag as it were.
Drummond attended the Bfast Transit Forum, which was the first truly public event; wearing the orange T-shirt sitting beside Walter Mulkewich who looked like a proud grandfather.
Drummond brought a lot more credibility to the race than past candidates.
The campaign team is small – but Drummond says he has knocked on more than 4000 doors and is at the point where he has had to order more signs.
Will Andrea be in the riding? Probably not said Drummond.
Burlington has never been seen as prime NDP territory – that stuff is in Hamilton.
His Dad went to Queen’s University and worked on the election campaigns that put the late Flora Macdonald into the House of Commons. “As a young man I worked on Conservative campaigns with my parents” said Drummond.
He went to the University of Waterloo and got a job with Rodgers where he now works on enterprise strategy – which means working out the details and the discounts for a client that buys 500 cell phones.
It was while he was at Waterloo that he got a look at the damage a government can do – the Mike Harris government was a political awakening for Drummond. His days at handing out campaign literature for the Conservative cause came to an end.
Drummond moved to Burlington in 2004, his children have grown up here – this is the kind of family community he likes.
He made is clear during the information session on Monday that his concern for community goes far beyond his own neighbourhood. He told that audience that he doesn’t understand how a developer can come in and raze an established community and more than triple the population through intensification; which is what is happening in the Warwick Surrey community in Aldershot. Many of the policies and regulations that make that kind of development possible are provincially based. Words like that should keep the “responsible development” people very happy.
 Andrew Drummond and Jane McKenna – the body language tells it all. He could be first – she might be last. His issues are family issues – school, health and safe streets.
He wants to see major changes in the wait time at the hospital. “If you have to take your child to the hospital in the evening – take a sleeping bag – you are going to be there a long time.”, said Drummond.
The decision to close Bateman high school is something he wants to see revisited. “I can save that school if I am elected,” said Drummond.
His views on transit are not as strong – Burlington was built for the car – a reality Drummond doesn’t see changing all that much. However he does want the municipalities to have sound funding and as much as 50% of their operational costs.
Educational funding is a major focus for him – he sees a situation where school boards create a program but are not assured consistent funding going forward. “It is difficult to plan a program without knowing if the operational funding is going to be there.”
Drummond doesn’t have any problems with the tax increases that will be needed to pay for the Pharmacare and the dental care. He feels that a 1% or 2% increase is more than manageable for those in the $220,000 household income levels.
 Andrew Drummond at his first public event with former mayor Walter Mulkewich in a supporting role. During our discussion with Drummond there wasn’t any of that always coming back to the role the unions play. His focus was on the quality of the lives people live and more sharing of the wealth we have. He understands that the NDP has deep union roots but he does not see himself as a “union man”. The only time he was a member of a union was when he was 17 working as a dishwasher.
He understands that hydro is an issue and believes there is a solution to the problem.
Not any mention of the plight of the indigenous community.
What Drummond isn’t is one of those “radical activists” that Doug Ford goes on about. Drummond is quiet by nature with the capacity to think through an issue.
His concern is people and the lives they get to live.
He is aware of the impact provincial policy is having on the need for Burlington to intensify
There are times when the pace of the election and the volatility of the change taking place seem to overwhelm Drummond.
Our interview took place before the Canadian Federation of University Women held their information night for all the candidates. During the evening one could begin to see the character and depth of the man – he not only handled himself very well – he exuded a level of confidence that was refreshing.
 Andrew Drummond talking to a supporter during the CFUW event on Monday. He is out 4 of the 5 weekday evenings and all weekend knocking on doors. The campaign has eaten up the vacation time he had coming to him. Securing the traditional NDP vote and coping with the people who now want to take a longer look at the New Democrats keeps him moving.
The Monday CFUW event was followed by a Chamber of Commerce event the next morning. Drummond reports that he was the only person that got a strong round of applause when he made his closing remarks.
 The original objective was to keep the traditional NDP vote – that vote has grown requiring additional lawn signs. What does all this mean to Andrew Drummond? Will he find himself sitting in the provincial Legislature in the fall? It is now something he thinks and wonders about.
He ran as the NDP candidate this time because he wanted to see the party get back to its traditional 19% share of the vote in Burlington. It was 14% in 2014.
What will it take to get that number high enough to take the seat?
That is something everyone in Burlington is thinking about.
By Ray Rivers
May 21st, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Mr. Ford says he’ll cut the gas taxes at the pump by 5.7 cents? And perhaps the oil companies will reduce the price of gas after he kills the cap-and-trade carbon program, maybe giving him the ten cents he’s promising to deliver. That may sound pretty good but I already get three cents off just for using my credit card at Petro-Canada stations. And then there’s another 5-10 cents off when I use my Petro-Points.
 It’s just the old shell game, playing pennies, taking from transit and giving to the auto crowd, robbing the mayors to pay the Premier. And big deal, I saved all of $1.47 on my last fill up. Oh, and to fund this promise Mr. Ford will be cutting the gas tax transfers the province gives municipalities for public transit – some billion dollars or so – meaning it’ll cost you more for that next bus ride. It’s just the old shell game, playing pennies, taking from transit and giving to the auto crowd, robbing the mayors to pay the Premier.
But it’s the climate change stupid! National geographic has reported that the last two decades have been the hottest in over 400 years. The earth has had the warmest consecutive 400 months of record high temperatures. And the accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere is higher than it has been for almost a million years.
Don’t believe the statistics? Look at the melting polar ice caps and glaciers, the world’s declining coral reefs, the rate at which desertification is happening and the rate at which species are becoming extinct, including the polar bear, sooner than later. Look at the weird winter we just had and the near hurricane strength freak windstorm a couple weeks ago, which took several lives and kept parts of Burlington in the dark for over three days.
 Evidence based decision making – what does one do if they don’t like the evidence. Higher gasoline prices are economic disincentives – they encourage people to shift to less polluting transportation, like hybrid cars, electric vehicles (EV) and public transportation and to reduce their carbon emissions. And incentives are needed beyond the pump. Ontario’s cap-and-trade system forces all large emitters to reduce their emissions to become more competitive.
Subsidies and rebates on home insulation and efficient windows help reduce energy use and save the consumer money as well as reducing greenhouse gases. And the development of renewable electricity is critical to replace coal and other fossil fuels as Ontario has done in shutting down the largest point source of carbon emissions in Canada.
The value/cost of Mr. Ford’s election promises dwarf those of the other two main parties. Yet, Mr. Ford has been the strongest critic of the current government for not balancing its budget sooner and reducing Ontario’s public debt. Indeed, there are a number of good reasons to knock down the size of our fiscal debt. But most folks end up arguing that it is about fairness. “How moral is it to bequeath the next generation a whacking big financial bill?”
 Our youth are not marching about, nor protesting, Ontario’s relatively high debt levels. Young people can and do speak for themselves when it matters. When I was young we marched for civil rights and against the Vietnam war and nuclear weapons. After the last recession (2008) our youth led the protests over financial power and misuse of that power by Wall and Bay streets. More recently high school students have marched across the USA to protest the obscene number of school shootings. In the UK those who were too young to vote against Brexit feel cheated by the outcome and are demanding a new referendum.
But our youth are not marching about, nor protesting, Ontario’s relatively high debt levels. Perhaps they understand that incurring debt after the last recession was the price we had to pay for Ontario to get back on its feet, achieving the lowest unemployment in nearly two decades and the strongest economic growth in the G7.
Perhaps they appreciate that debt helped finance the free tuition, youth pharmacare, and extra costs for early education which will better prepare Ontario’s youth for the future. And they no doubt can grasp that much of this debt has gone towards investing in transportation and other capital infrastructure which they will also inherit.
Perhaps they understand that the debt is only money after all – and if we really wanted to, we could eventually pay it down much as we did the large stranded $40 billion Ontario Hydro debt. And perhaps they understand that we could have paid off those annual deficits except for the recurring chant of ‘more tax cuts’ by those best positioned to pay them.
Indeed If we asked them, our youth would likely hone in on what they are most concerned about – their most important inheritance – the state of health of the planet we live on. Even though the climate experts can’t predict the fate of the planet with absolute certainty they are warning about higher ocean levels, loss of species, more severe storms, droughts and flooding as strong possibilities. And the list of potential benefits is extremely short.
 Whatever we do today – it will be in their hand tomorrow. And so it is unsurprising that youth would be more concerned about this starship earth, rather than balancing the budget and eliminating the debt. Does it really matter how high the fiscal debt goes once we’ve destroyed our way of life here? For this reason, youth tend to dominate the membership of political entities, like the Green Party, which are unequivocal in their demands to protect the environment and mitigate climate changes as best we can.
One provincial MPP recently proposed that we lower the voting age to 16. After all, those 16 year olds have more at stake, come election time, than any 50 or 60 year old. It’s just mathematics – they will be around longer and policies like those affecting the environment, education and even the fiscal debt will affect them more than it will the elderly. And they are unlikely to be bribed, nor to sell their vote to Mr. Ford for the couple of lousy bucks he’s offering them at the gas pumps.
 Ray Rivers writes regularly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Ten Cents Maybe – Ontario Gas Tax – Highest Carbon –
Highest Warming – Monthly Warming – 16 Year Old Voting –
Green Party –
 By Tracy Ehl Harris
May 16th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
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In the spring of 2017, the Ministry of Education placed a moratorium on any new Pupil Accommodation Reviews in the province until such time as they could consult with stakeholders and update the existing Pupil Accommodation Review Guideline (PARG, released March 2015).
After two rounds of consultation in the fall of 2017 and winter of 2018, the Ministry released the updated PARG in April 2018. Boards must now develop/revise their own Pupil Accommodation Review (PAR) policies to be in conformance with the new PARG. At the heart of the policy, is serving students in the best and most effective way possible.
Boards undertake annual pupil accommodation planning processes (in the HDSB this is called the Long Term Accommodation Process, LTAP, and it is available each spring) that identify growth, decline and status quo scenarios for each school, area, and the district as a whole. Through the LTAP, each year existing and foreseeable pupil accommodation issues are highlighted, and community consultation is undertaken. Potential Pupil Accommodation Reviews (PARs) are also identified. These reviews must follow the PARG established by the Ministry, and the Board’s own PAR policy.
HDSB Trustees provided comments to the Ministry during the consultation timelines noted above for the new PARG. I want to highlight three concerns related to the new PARG:
1) A PAR is initiated by the submission by staff and approval by the Board of Trustees of an initial staff report identifying the accommodation challenge to be addressed and the scope of the review, among other things. In the 2015 version of the PARG, the initial staff report to the Board of Trustees was to contain a recommended scenario (that is a preference for solving the identified accommodation challenge). In the 2018 PARG update, this changed. The initial staff report is now to contain a recommended scenario and at least two alternative scenarios.
 Members of a Halton District School Board PARC meeting. This new approach likely does not solve the issue associated with publishing a preferred option (and alternatives) at the start of a PAR process. Boards ask communities to provide their best wisdom and guidance on how to solve a specific accommodation problem. It is very difficult to engage in a problem-solving exercise when it appears that there is already a predisposition for a preferred solution(s). Some school communities may feel attacked, while others may feel that the issue doesn’t involve them.
Processes start in a trust deficit and it is very hard to recover. Why aren’t Boards given the choice about whether a preferred scenario and alternatives are appropriate for their context? Ideally, proponents would be encouraged to start a PAR process just where the LTAP leaves off, with a report about a specific accommodation challenge and the related implications and then move to consider possible viable solutions in a consultative manner.
2) “School boards are required to consult with local communities prior to adopting or subsequently amending their pupil accommodation review policies.” (Section IV of the new PARG) One critical factor in engaging communities is that there is the opportunity to build and/or sustain a trust relationship. This can be fostered by appropriate consultation and communication. In section IV, the broad term “consult” is utilized, appropriately giving boards the latitude to utilize consultation methods that best suit the community audience and can garner meaningful input that supports trust building and good, local decision making. In Section X it is stated that ”the school board must arrange to hold a minimum of three public meetings for broader community consultation on the initial staff report.” It also states that “in addition to the required public meetings, school boards may use other methods to solicit community feedback.”
Why, during an accommodation review when emotions are potentially high given that specific scenarios are being considered, does the Ministry insist on utilizing “public meetings.” This is but one method, and it may or may not be the most appropriate one.
This is a dated and limited construct of what consultation can and should be. The International Association for Public Participation states, “public meetings are often selected when another approach might work better.” Further, they say, “public meetings can escalate out of control if emotions are high.” Predictably, this is what happens when people are discussing education in general, and specifically as it relates to one’s children and the schools they attend.
 Parents at a public PAR meeting. This narrow construct (i.e public meetings) can be a hindrance to meaningful consultation and the eventual outcomes. Again, why can’t boards choose the type of consultation that is most appropriate for their context and the needs of the communities they serve?
3) There appears to be a lack of clarity and consistency regarding roles of various parties throughout the PARG. For example, Section XI, states “School boards will determine how best to involve secondary school students in the pupil accommodation review process”.
This section and others seem to be silent in terms of engaging staff. Section XII which speaks to transition planning does not mention students but does mention parents/guardians and staff. These inconsistencies could be cleared up by identifying all stakeholders prior to the beginning of the process and identifying how they will be engaged in meaningful ways.
Further, there is lack of clarity around membership and functioning of the PAR Committee members. For example, Ministry expectations are unclear about what is meant when a Trustee is an ad hoc member of this committee.
Here is a summary of next steps provided by the Ministry.
“To ensure consistency in pupil accommodation reviews across school boards, the Ministry of Education will work with education and municipal stakeholders and partner ministries over the coming months to develop supports such as templates to assist boards. This includes templates for the initial staff report and the economic impact assessment.
The ministry will aim to release these supports by fall 2018. While these supports are being developed, there will continue to be no new pupil accommodation reviews, unless they are required to support a joint-use school initiative between two coterminous school boards
PAR processes can be difficult under the best of conditions. Perhaps these supports/templates will assist Boards in supporting students in effective and efficient ways. The PARG states that “School boards are responsible for managing their school capital assets in an effective manner. They must respond to changing demographics and program needs while being cognizant of the impacts of their decisions on student programming and well-being, school board resources and the local community.” Boards should have the right balance of prescription from the Ministry and latitude to run strong context specific processes, AND students should be the focus and at the heart of everything.
The source document is: www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/reviewGuide.html)
 Tracy Ehl Harris is a Halton District School Board trustee for Oakville and is the current vice-chair of the Board. Tracey is a registered professional planner, certified master public participation practitioner and certified professional facilitator.
By Pepper Parr
May 14th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Add another name to those that will be on the ballot for the ward 2 city council seat.
Roland Tanner, a member of the Shape Burlington committee and also a member of the committee that was set up to monitor what Shape Burlington managed to achieve; in hindsight it doesn’t appear to be very much.
Both Tanner and his wife hold doctorates and operate a research company
 Roland Tanner, ward 2 candidate Tanner contributed to the Burlington Engagement Charter process and Save the Waterfront campaign to oppose the re-zoning of Old Lakeshore Road for high-rises.
Roland is a member of the Burlington Downtown Refugee Alliance, a collection of Burlington churches and citizen groups who have sponsored a family of Syrian refugees to settle in Burlington and assist them with their transition to Canadian life.
Tanner said that he is “running to tackle the challenges facing Burlington Ward 2 where citizens increasingly feel the way the city is changing is beyond their control, especially in the downtown core. As 24 storey buildings threaten to become the new normal in downtown, Burlingtonians fear the things they love about their city will be lost.”
Tanner is keen to emphasize his campaign is about promoting positive solutions to the current problems, not simply pointing out the challenges.
“I was part of the Shape Burlington Committee in 2010 which called for City Hall to ‘re-invent itself” by welcoming innovative new ways of bringing citizens into the decision-making process. Unfortunately, despite the subsequent Engagement Charter, I don’t feel we are any further forward in bringing about a genuinely engaged community. Engagement isn’t about more town hall meetings, it’s about making citizens partners in the process of shaping our city, along with City Hall staff, non-profits, businesses, and yes, even developers. City Hall must listen, engage and empower its citizens to build a truly innovative community of which we can all be proud,” said Tanner in his nomination announcement.
A man worth watching.
By Staff
May 14th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington has made the big time press. The Toronto Star did a long piece on Sunday about the city’s growing pains. The last time Burlington got this kind of press from the Star was when we were building that $14.4 million dollar “mistake by the lake” – The Pier – for the second time.
Here is what the Toronto Star had to say.
How Burlington’s growing pains became an election issue
Downtown Burlington has become a battleground over plans for more highrise development, with some worried that rapid intensification will destroy the charm that drew them to the city in the first place.
By Tess KalinowskiReal Estate Reporter
Sun., May 13, 2018
Kelly Childs moved to Burlington in 2008 looking to escape “the hustle” of Toronto.
It broke her heart when she learned that the block where she and her daughter operate Kelly’s Bake Shoppe had been sold to a condo developer.
The cupcake emporium on Burlington’s main drag draws thousands of customers in a busy week with the promise of luscious treats, part of a charming strip of stores and restaurants leading to the lake.
On a recent weekday morning, Kelly’s was crowded with a group of moms and babies. But directly north, the Blossom Lily restaurant, Thomasville furnishings, Elizabeth Interiors and Celli’s restaurant are already closed or have moved.
 421 Brant The nearby 23-storey Carriage Gate Homes development and its “twin tower” — a developer has already filed a proposal for a 24-storey sister building — are displacing those stores. The notices on the empty shop windows and impending construction across from city hall have become a rallying point for a polarized community in advance of the fall civic election.
Residents and businesses are divided among those who believe tall buildings will feed the vitality and sustainability of the city and those who worry development will drive up prices, pushing out Burlington’s character and dwarfing its civic buildings.
“I’ve never seen this kind of tension — I’m going to call it the pitchfork. There are so many residents that are waking up to it,” Childs said. “It’s like the ether has just worn off and they’re going, ‘What the heck have we been silent to?’”
Burlington is the latest battleground in the Toronto region where municipalities are struggling to welcome more residents without planting them on farmers’ fields and environmentally sensitive areas. Guided by the province’s anti-sprawl growth plan, intensification zones with denser housing are rising around newly expanded transit lines.
Early estimates in the new official plan call for an additional 14,000 people and 1,200 jobs to be added to the downtown, beyond 2041. Up to 72,000 residents and 60,000 jobs are expected in the areas surrounding the Aldershot, Burlington and Appleby GO stations beyond 2041.
Burlington’s downtown should never have been considered one of those zones, say local critics.
Childs says she’s not blaming anyone. “It’s no slight to the developers. We’re all in business and do what we do. The developers love to build, I love to make cupcakes,” she said.
But, in the absence of a compromise, Childs says, “To me (highrise) creates more a generic downtown. It takes away the uniqueness of some storefronts.”
The last time Burlington was so rattled by a civic issue was probably the “Mistake by the Lake,” say the locals, citing an epic, seven-year municipal ordeal to install the scenic pier at the foot of Brant St. By the time it opened five years ago, it cost $14.4 million.
The recent onslaught of development applications has spurred residents to show up in force for public meetings and even post “Height Is No Solution” lawn signs.
 Marianne Meed Ward – candidate for Mayor Downtown Councillor Marianne Meed Ward says “hyper-intensification” will push small businesses off Brant St. with higher rents, replacing them with generic chains, traffic jams and inadequate parking. It won’t enhance the city’s housing needs and it will be wildly out of scale with the heritage surroundings, she said.
“We’re seeing store vacancies because nobody can get long leases because these sites are being assembled for redevelopment,” said Meed Ward.
There are 35 active development applications at the city, including official plan and zoning bylaw amendments. Construction is already underway downtown on a midrise condo west of Brant St. across from the Performing Arts Centre, and there’s another residential building east of Brant and a massive hotel-condo going up on the lakefront.
 The Nautique – to go up at the corner of Martha and Lakeshore Road. Burlington has asked for a review of an Ontario Municipal Board decision that would allow Adi Developments to build a 26-storey condo north of Lakeshore Rd., just east of Brant St.
“We have over 90 buildings both residential and commercial within the downtown boundaries that are heritage properties. Only a quarter are designated under that act, which protects them from demolition,” said Meed Ward. “The rest are not protected, so you can imagine a two-storey heritage building — if you are allowing 17-, 20-, 23-storey buildings — the air rights above that property are far more valuable than keeping and retaining the heritage.”
The lone No vote on Burlington council’s recently adopted new official plan, Meed Ward says she is running for mayor.
Residents like retiree Penny Hersh agree with Meed Ward that the plan, the blueprint for how Burlington will grow, was passed in haste and with too few specifics. Hersh is among the organizers of the group behind the lawn signs, Engaged Citizens of Burlington (ECOB). It organized a workshop in February to encourage more civic election participation. Nearly 100 people turned up.
 Penny Hersh on the right. Hersh lives in a 15th-floor condo near the Bridgewater residential-hotel project under construction on Lakeshore Rd., comprising a 22-storey condo, another seven-storey condo and an eight-storey hotel. She says she knew about the development when she moved there and isn’t complaining. She didn’t move to downtown Burlington to look at the water.
“I moved downtown because I wanted to be able to walk … Burlington wants to be a walkable community but in the downtown there are a lot of seniors. No one’s getting on their bicycle to cycle up to the No Frills (grocery store) in January,” she said.
Hersh says she’s fine with development around the city’s three GO stations. But designating downtown Burlington as an intensification zone and mobility hub, based on its tiny bus depot, makes no sense.
“We aren’t fighting the highrises. We’re just asking for a sensible, smart plan,” she said.
With a population of about 183,000, Burlington was dubbed Canada’s best mid-sized city five years in a row by MoneySense magazine based on its relative wealth, safety and high employment. It shelters commuters for both Toronto and Hamilton and has maintained a sense of identity through its downtown even as malls and big box stores — including an Ikea — flourish all around.
 Mayor Rick Goldring Mayor Rick Goldring says he’s aware of the angst around intensification. Highrise “is a symbol of something in other communities that people don’t want to be like,” he said. But he argues Burlington has no choice.
“We’re at a different place than we’ve been in our history. We don’t have any more greenfield remaining. The days of building single-family-home developments are behind us,” he said.
Going forward, the city’s focus is on creating more mixed-use, walkable, transit-friendly neighbourhoods around mobility hubs.
He likens it to building the Performing Arts Centre. Back then some residents thought the city didn’t need and couldn’t afford the 718-seat venue. They worried that it would be “elitist,” that tickets would be too expensive. Nearly seven years after the curtain went up, Goldring says it’s difficult to imagine Burlington without the theatre.
The mayor concedes that Burlington’s older highrises haven’t always been thoughtfully designed. But new tall building guidelines adopted last year and an urban design panel will ensure newer towers connect to the city’s other features, he said.
The new “Grow Bold” official plan, prescribing where growth will be concentrated, still has to be approved by Halton Region. It will be followed by a new transit plan recommending frequent service on some key routes, says the mayor. But the first significant changes aren’t likely to happen until fall 2019.
 Brian Dean, executive director of the 435-member Burlington Downtown Business Association. “I can’t think of one issue that has kicked the hornet’s nest in the residential mind more than this series of deliberations on the official plan,” said Brian Dean, executive director of the 435-member Burlington Downtown Business Association. “It will be a huge wedge issue for the upcoming election.”
He calls the opposition “the most concentrated, vociferous group of residents I have seen in 20 years.”
In the business community and even among the association’s 12 board members, “there is very little consensus over whether this period of unprecedented development is the best thing since sliced bread or the death knell of the downtown,” he said.
Downtown Burlington tends to draw empty nesters, many of them snowbirds. Dean says more young professionals and families would improve business in the slower shoulder seasons.
But the size and price of the new condos won’t attract those buyers, says Meed Ward. There is also no commitment to an affordable housing component — “another lost opportunity,” she said.
“People are saying we are not getting what we need in housing … what is being delivered will end up in congestion and sun-shadowing impact, changing character, glass and steel architecture, rising prices for business and pressure on the parking supply, and then the taxpayers will have to help build more,” she said.
 Deputy city manager Mary Lou Tanner Deputy city manager Mary Lou Tanner, Burlington’s former chief planner, says she isn’t surprised by the “concern” because it is the first serious conversation about growth in a couple of generations.
When city officials reviewed pictures of downtown Burlington from 20 years ago, what they found wasn’t exactly Mayberry.
“There were a lot of vacancies, there were boarded-up buildings on Brant St. and in other commercial areas. There were surface parking lots across the street from Spencer Smith Park (on the lakefront),” said Tanner.
So Burlington invested about $150 million in improvements such as the arts centre and adjacent parking garage, the pier and park.
“When the public sector makes that kind of significant investment in a downtown, it’s a good thing because it creates that confidence and that vibrancy,” she said. “What we’re now seeing is that (development) demand is starting to ramp up a bit.”
Meantime, said Tanner, the city is planning to preserve Brant St.’s historic elements by having them replicated in new buildings where possible.
 Gary Scobie Retiree Gary Scobie’s ECOB lawn sign declares his status as an engaged resident. He has been to city hall to voice his opposition to the downtown development.
“The downtown residents are getting the first taste of what it means to be an urban growth centre,” he said.
“I think we’re trying to build a skyline just to impress the neighbours, and who are the neighbours?”
You can see the original of the story HERE
The photographs are from the Burlington Gazette photo bank.
 By Staff
May 10th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Burlington Arts and Culture Fund (BACF) grant program award funding support to 20 arts and cultural projects.
The BACF received 25 grant applications that were reviewed by a jury of peers and city staff. Decisions were based on artistic merit, program merit, strategic initiative, and city, community and economic impact.
$50,000 in funding will support 20 arts and cultural projects across Burlington to foster creativity and enhances opportunities for Burlington residents to experience and engage with arts and culture.
The grant program was approved by City Council in September 2017 as part of the Cultural Action Plan.
The BACF is facilitated to nurture the quality and capacity of the arts and culture sector in Burlington. The program is administered by the City of Burlington’s Arts and Culture Section and applications are reviewed in part by a peer assessment jury. City funding provided under this program must be used to further an applicant’s not-for-profit activities. Funding will not be provided for major capital projects including but not limited to the purchase of land, equipment, fixtures or physical facilities. Applicants that have received any form of city funding in the same calendar year, are not eligible for BACF funding.
Project Name: A Lyrical Affair to Remember
Applicant: Daniela Carnevale and Alanna Smith
Funding: $710
A Lyrical Affair to Remember will host its10th Anniversary Cabaret evening at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre studio theatre in February 2019. This event will feature Lyrical Affair in collaboration with guest performers from the past nine seasons. The project will provide learning and training opportunities for emerging artists and technicians alongside the professional theatre technicians at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. “The mission is to create these shows to share our talents and expertise with the community while at the same time providing opportunities for additional singers of all cultural backgrounds to join us. Lyrical Affair is unique to Burlington because it provides cabaret performances with a focus on a variety of musical styles including Broadway, jazz, pop and rock to name a few.”
Project Name: Art in Action Studio Tour
Applicant: Art in Action
Funding: $2,300
Art in Action assists artists in becoming self-sustaining entrepreneurs and encourages a social community for artists in Burlington and surrounding areas. For the past 15 years it has successfully provided opportunities for artists to engage the community by demonstrating their skills and providing a venue to highlight their talent. The Art in Action Burlington Studio Tour is free to the public and the only one of its kind in Burlington. Art in Action functions due to financial support and sponsorship from its members and local businesses. This allows Art in Action to sustain itself while providing an ongoing scholarship to any Halton Region graduating student pursuing further education in the arts. Art in Action is proud to say that, to date, it has offered six such scholarships. The successful student also receives free membership and a guest spot on the tour. This exposure has proved to be invaluable to the student and showcases Art in Action as a progressive, inclusive, organization.
Project Name: A Song for Peace
Applicant: Burlington Civic Chorale
Funding: $2,000
The Burlington Civic Chorale (BCC) is planning a three-part project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War and highlight Canada’s role in worldwide peacemaking. The concert is part of the chorale’s three-concert season providing choral music to the Halton region. Elements include: Commissioning and performing a choral work by an Ontario composer; The text, created by a Burlington writer, which is based on excerpts from the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech and lecture of Canadian diplomat and eventual Prime Minister, Lester B. Pearson; Seeking publication of the commissioned work, so that it is accessible to choirs and audiences across Canada and around the world; Boosting the reach of their premiere performance and promoting other performances of the work through a professional video of 12 to15 minutes that includes behind-the-scenes footage, brief interviews, and the complete performance, to be shared and promoted via social media.
Project Name: Authors in Your Neighbourhood
Applicant: Sylvia McNicoll
Funding: $2,825
Authors in your neighborhood want elementary students to have a positive interaction with a local writer to foster the love of reading and writing. The project will provide two elementary schools in each of the six wards with a free presentation between September 2018 and March 2019 and each school will be provided with an autographed set of the books that either Jennifer Maruno or Sylvia McNicoll will be speaking on. Following a discussion on the origins, characters, setting of the stories, the students will be inspired to read the work and it will be available for them to read. Approximately 1,200 students will learn more about the author’s writing process, as well as cover design, editing and other publishing process which will increase the depth of their reading enjoyment and encourage them to read the author’s work. Over 40 teachers, librarian-techs, and other teaching assistants will pick up pointers on inspiring proficient writing.
Project Name: Burlington – A City Through the Seasons
Applicant: Robert Todd
Funding: $3,010
The goal of this project is to capture seasonal images of the Burlington’s best sites and use the photographs as part of a touring exhibition. The project will incorporate 16 to 20 of the best images in this exhibition and promote Burlington’s public spaces that are free for everyone to access. The sites will be described in terms of their suitability for those with mobility limitations and will focus on walkable, bike-able and/or transit-friendly locations. The exhibition will be promoted through 8 x 10 photographs in various public locations throughout Burlington to showcase the beauty of its natural environment, architecture, heritage and culture. A guide of these locations will be completed and handed out during the exhibition itself. Both residents and tourists will be able to use this guide on their own to gain access to their favourite locations, based on the compiled images.
Project Name: Burlington Fine Arts Association Annual Juried Exhibition
Applicant: Burlington Fine Arts Association
Funding: $4,104
This project is the first step in building a relationship between the Burlington Fine Arts Association and the Burlington Mall, to bring original art out of the gallery and into a more accessible community venue and consumer space. The Annual Juried Exhibition will be hosted by the BFAA at the Burlington Mall in their new community room. Juried shows are beneficial for the artists because they will receive recognition for their work, have a chance to win a monetary prize, gain exposure and credibility, and learn from the experience of having their work judged by a knowledgeable juror. The community will see the best works that the BFAA has to offer as well as the vast diversity of artists and artistic styles showcased in Burlington. Throughout the exhibition, participating BFAA artists will interact with visitors on site, give live demonstrations and talk about their work and process. The community will learn about creative opportunities available at BFAA and will be able to view original, unique local art.
Project Name: Burlington’s Stars of Tomorrow
Applicant: Symphony on the Bay
Funding: $2,970
As part of its mission to demystify classical music and make it accessible to a broader audience, Symphony on the Bay has a keen interest in providing engaging opportunities for youth and young artists to access resources and performances. Burlington’s Stars of Tomorrow focuses specifically on the needs of two on-going initiatives – A Young Artists Competition and Youth Outreach Program. The Young Artists Competition (YAC) showcases talented youth musicians as featured soloists with the orchestra in a mainstage concert during Symphony on the Bay’s regular season. Symphony on the Bay has conducted this competition annually since 1991. “For the coming season, we plan to broaden the scope of performers to include a category of non-western music. This provides an engaging, culturally diverse musical experience for both performers and the audience. But more importantly, it exposes Burlington’s youth to the rich musical traditions of non-western cultures.”
Project Name: Burlington Welsh Ladies Chorus Concert
Applicant: Burlington Welsh Ladies Chorus
Funding: $500
The Burlington Welsh Ladies Chorus (BWLC) aims to foster creativity, stimulate culture and encourage social cohesion by involving the community in learning songs and singing in different languages without songbooks (as in the Welsh tradition) to entertain the public. “To succeed in our vision of creating an atmosphere of collaboration we look forward to connecting with other musical groups to promote cultural diversity.” The chorus is unique to the area in terms of its composition and delivery. The chorus aims to encourage women in Burlington to join the troupe in learning the esthetics of singing, how to sing in a different language in order to perform and socialize each other.
Project Name: Christmas Collage Ice Show
Applicant: Christmas Collage Fundraising Foundation
Funding: $2,000
Christmas Collage is a celebration of local talent performing in a choreographed ice show that combines all forms of movement on ice, as well as off-ice entertainment by various artists. This show is a collection of artistry and athletics through the movement of figure skating, hockey, synchronized skating, ringette, speed skating, sledge hockey and curling. The event includes over 100 on and off-ice performers including those of all ages, abilities, genders and cultures. Christmas Collage brings together all forms of movement on ice and fosters collaboration between community organizations such as the Burlington Skating Centre, Burlington Barracudas, Burlington Blast, Burlington Eagles, the youth curling program at Burlington Golf and Country Club and local Burlington speed skaters and sledge hockey players. In addition to the on-ice performances, the show features many off-ice entertainers from the local community including Burlington Student Theatre and the Burlington Footnotes, and other local musicians. The show provides an opportunity for many diverse members of the community to perform together and showcase Burlington’s talent in a unique celebration of the holiday season.
Project Name: Emerging Artists Series
Applicant: Rotary Club of Burlington Lakeshore
Funding: $2,600
Canada’s Largest Ribfest Emerging Artists Series is a showcase of local Burlington talent. The program aims to grant emerging artists the best opportunity to launch their career on a featured space at a professional-level. Three of the city’s most up-and-coming artists will be invited to showcase their talent. Canada’s Largest Ribfest Emerging Artists Series offers exposure to new and diverse audiences, networking and connection opportunities, artist relations, hospitality, stage management experience and knowledge to support the career development of the city’s emerging artists. Through the Emerging Artist Series, Canada’s Largest Ribfest will foster the career development of three of Burlington’s emerging artists, providing them with the opportunity to receive a total of six hours of featured space, professional-level airtime.
Project Name: Halton Freedom Celebration
Applicant: Halton Black History Awareness Society
Funding: $5,000
The multicultural 2018 Halton Freedom Festival incorporates a Freedom Celebration Festival at Spencer Smith Park on Saturday, August 4, 2018, a HBHAS Black History Speakers’ Forum on August 2 and an HBHAS Emancipation Art Exhibition from July 10 to September 1 at the Helson Gallery, Halton Hills Cultural Centre. The second annual Halton Freedom Celebration Festival is a free festival open to the public and will include musical and dance acts, youth and children’s events and artistic/musical and historical forums, an extensive marketplace of cultural cuisine, community and cultural association partners, genealogists, historians/authors and cultural/community contributors.
Project Name: The Healing Portraits Project
Applicant: Meraki Arts Collective
Funding: $3,500
The Healing Portraits Project will make an open call to the Burlington arts community, and match three artists with a different set of newcomers to Burlington (individual or group, with or without a translator) in particular, people who have come to the city displaced by violence in other parts of the world. The artists will create an artwork inspired by their story. The collective will capture the story of three artworks that inspire healing, meaning, beauty, and memory in the form of a video. The video itself will be an artwork for both participants and the public to reflect on how art inspires, reflects, connects, teaches, and heals. The Healing Portraits Project seeks to bring together local artists, refugee or newcomer families and connect with the community at large. The final product includes any 3 pieces of art (i.e. painting, sculpture, photography, etc.) that will be based on the stories, feelings, and images that come out of the meeting mediated by an art therapist between the artists and the newcomers. The project will capture the creative process on video to produce a short-film that tells the story of how these pieces of art came about. This short video will be presented together with the artworks themselves.
Project Name: Meet Me at the Brant Inn
Applicant: KooGle Theatre Company
Funding: $2,000
Meet Me at the Brant Inn is a multi-year project to create a musical production about the historical Brant Inn. The Brant Inn located on Burlington lakeshore became one of North America’s most noted and successful nightspots. Some of the biggest names in show business graced the stage at the Brant Inn during the great depression, during the second world war and into the 50’s – where thousands, from all over North America would attend on a nightly basis. Lena Horne, Andy Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller, Benny Goodman, Liberace, Tommy Dorsey, Lawrence Welk, Louis Armstrong, Guy Lombardo, Johnny Mathis, and Duke Ellington to name a few – were headliners. Many local and Canadian bands were also showcased at the Brant Inn.
The story of The Brant Inn, which is a huge part of Burlington’s fabric, will be built by gathering stories from those who were fortunate enough to experience it. “The first year we will be meeting with as many people to hear their stories and work directly alongside a videographer who will record their stories with permission. These stories will potentially be used on stage throughout the musical via video projection of actual interviews that we have recorded with Burlington residents. These true stories will also help shape the storyline of the musical allowing Burlington residents to be directly involved in its creation.”
Project Name: One Burlington Festival 2018
Applicant: Roderick Nisan
Funding: $5,000
The One Burlington Festival will consist of different local exhibitors of different faiths and community organizations having cultural booths and different stage productions of songs and dance produced by the local participating cultural organizations. The festival will create concrete opportunities for positive interaction among the participating communities by supporting inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue and understanding in a friendly, family-oriented environment. The festival provides attendees an enjoyable, informal experience of learning about local cultural and religious communities and the uniqueness of their neighbours. “It is in the discovery of the uniqueness of our cultural neighbours that we realize and come to understand the similarities of the values that we share.”
Project Name: Orchestra BST40 by STARS
Applicant: Student Theatre Active Representatives Society
Funding: $1,000
The Student Theatre Active Representatives Society (STARS) is a volunteer-run organization and registered charity that supports local youth arts organizations and initiatives by providing funding and volunteers to help foster the arts in Burlington. STARS supports youth arts productions in Burlington and youth participation in arts events in the Burlington area. This includes supporting arts festivals in Burlington, such as Beyond the Flounder; supporting arts productions in Burlington, such as those staged by Burlington Student Theatre; supporting youth participation in arts events such as the Rotary Music Festival; and, supporting youth participation in educational activities such as theatrical skills development workshops. The Orchestra BST40 by STARS project will support professional and semi-professional musicians and technicians to support a musical theatre production performed by Burlington youth at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre.
Project Name: PROSPECTS: An Evening of Dance and Discussion
Applicant: Form CDT
Funding: $2,000
PROSPECTS: An Evening of Dance and Discussion is a series of three dance performances. The performances are a mixed program comprised of five pieces of choreography around the same theme. There will be one longer work by Form CDT, a shorter work by Form CDT and then three guest choreographers. PROSPECTS creates the opportunity for local guest choreographers to present their choreography around a specific theme and invites the audience to give their feedback. All of the choreographers will talk about their choreography with the audience and participate in a post-performance social gathering and talk back.
Project Name: Redleaf Choir Project
Applicant: Redleaf Cultural Integration
Funding: $2,600
Redleaf Choir Project (RCP) promotes art and culture by providing individuals with a learning opportunity to practice and improve their singing skills. The program welcomes people from diverse backgrounds, especially newcomers and seniors. The project will take place at the Burlington Senior Centre and run from April 2018 through March 2019. The instructor and choir members will meet every second week to teach and learn new songs including basic singing skills. This project provides a life-long learning opportunity for people continuing to learn as they age and promotes a healthy lifestyle. It is also an effective way to build connections through the learning process. Redleaf Cultural Integration is also planning to reach out to other performing groups from diverse cultural backgrounds, to exchange experiences, and collaborate with them to perform together to promote multiculturalism.
Project Name: Rhythm ‘n’ Art Truck
Applicant: Kinga Zak
Funding: $ 2,400
This project that will foster creativity in Burlington through an engaging, novel approach to arts and culture. The first phase occurs in September 2018 and the second phase will be ongoing throughout the remainder of the year. In September, surprise, live dance performances will be presented in busy, public spaces by a group of hired professional, multicultural dancers. Led by a main facilitator, these dancers will be united in rhythm and unique in movement. Dancers will be wearing colourful hand painted costumes inspired by diverse cultures. This visual extravaganza will highlight diverse identities, perspectives, languages, cultures and artistic practices. The main facilitator will educate participants and invite the public to participate, dancing together to celebrate their uniqueness. The pop-up aspect of this project will take place from July through September 2018. These collaborative performances will be held in six highly-populated public locations – one in each ward.
Project Name: The Tragical Comedy of Mr. Punch
Applicant: Tottering Biped Theatre
Funding: $1,500
The Tragical Comedy of Mr. Punch is a graphic novel penned by one of the world’s foremost English fantasy/sci-fi writers, Neil Gaiman, with images by Dave McKean. In receiving permission to adapt this piece through Gaiman/McKean’s agent, the perfect opportunity to undertake a collaboration project between Tottering Biped Theatre (TBT) and Theatre Beyond Words (TBW) arose. This is a layered, complex novel that suggests mask work, puppetry, and shadow theatre in its form: allowing the transmission of decades of physical theatre knowledge to pass from a company that has represented Canadian physical theatre internationally for decades (TBW) to a young and keen professional physical theatre group (TBT) in the process of adapting the work. It is a legacy project with the potential to deepen Canadian physical theatre while at the same time developing a piece with the potential to tour.
Project Name: With Glowing Hearts
Applicant: Burlington New Millennium Orchestra
Funding: $2,000
A celebratory yet poignant concert presentation in honour of Canada’s heritage and the War Veterans who make Canada proud. This concert will feature some of Canada’s most talented performing artists including Mark Masri, Simone Caruso, Sarena Paton, Gavin Hope, Sarah Campbell Mills, the McMaster University Choir – a fitting tribute to the True North Strong and Free. Attendees will hear songs and narrative with respect to Canada’s contribution to world peace and free society. Some of the narrative will be presented with choral and orchestral. The mission of the Burlington New Millennium Orchestra is to present unique high caliber concerts to the people of Burlington featuring gifted performing artists from the local, national and international arts communities. BNMO will foster collaborations with other local arts groups and engage younger audiences through selective outreach programming.
 By Pepper Parr
May 7th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Sometime in April of this year the Director of the Halon District School Board (HDSB) said he got a call from the Director of Education for the Halton Catholic District School Board (HCDSB).
The HCDSB had a problem and she felt there just might be a solution to that problem.
 Assumption High School. When the Assumption school on Upper Middle Road was built (1977) it was to be a Middle School. It became a high school over time. As a high school it was missing a lot of the needs of a high school particularly the labs.
The HCDSB wanted to build a new high school but could not get the funding they needed from the province.
They were able to get funding for a major renovation which in itself created problems. In would take an expected five years to complete renovations with students in the school which wasn’t something the HCDSB was looking forward to.
In 2016 the HDSB began a Program Accommodation Review of its high schools. In June of 2017 the HDSB trustees voted to close two of the seven high schools in the city.
 Parents from every high school in Burlington took part in a Review process. As a committee they were unable to arrive at a consensus as to which schools should be closed. Parents at both Bateman high school and the Lester B. Pearson high school were upset over the decision. They felt the process used by the Board was unfair and that the process set out was not followed. They took advantage of the opportunity to ask for a Review of the process.
The Bateman and Pearson parents could not appeal the actual decision – just the process. The Facilitator of the Review could suggest to the Minister of Education that the PAR process be done a second time.
The province considered the request for a Review and appointed Margaret Wilson to do that Review of the decision the trustees had made.
 Margaret Wilson listening to parents who believed the Program Administration Review was flawed. She turned in her report early in January of this year said: “Based on my review and consultations, I conclude that, while there were violations of the Board PAR Policy, they were such that they had no material effect on either the deliberations of the PARC or on the final decisions of the Board.”
With that decision the HDSB could begin the process of closing two high schools and arranging for the transfer of students to new high schools.
Pearson was to close in June of 2018 and Bateman was to close at the end of the school year in 2019 – which was extended to 2020.
The Director of the HDSB began the process of putting transition programs in place – moving the Pearson high school students to M.M. Robinson and moving the Bateman students to new facilities that would be built at Nelson high school.
The Gazette has been told that it was when the Margaret Wilson report was made public that the HCDSB Director made the call to the Director of the HDSB asking if they could rent the Pearson high school building for a short period of time.
Exactly when that call was made is not yet certain. It would appear that there was a 90 day period during which there were conversations and the arriving at a rental rate had to be determined.
 Halton District School Board Director of Education speaking to parents at Central High School. Stuart Miller, the Director of Education took the request to his Board of Trustees and in a closed session on May 2nd and explained to them the details of the request and what the HDSB was able to do.
A rental agreement was put together, the HCDSB approved it on May 1st and the HDSB approved it on May 2nd.
The decision was released to the public on May 3rd.
Parents and students who were going through the very emotionally difficult process of moving to a new school were not impressed with the decision and began to believe that the plan to close Pearson and let the Catholic school board use the building was always the plan.
That suspicion was fostered by the HDSB making the decision in a private session and then saying very little when the decision was made public.
The facts are that it was not until the Catholic school board knew that Pearson was going to be closed that they approached the HDSB to discuss a short term rental of the Lester B. Pearson building.
The HDSB just reacted to the request to lease the school.
 The Halton District School Board in session They just didn’t involve the public nor prepare the parents for the decision that was going to be contentious.
By Pepper Parr
April 30th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Getting parents out to a meeting at city hall is tough enough – getting teenagers to attend a meeting is something parents will give you a quizzical look should you mention wanting to do that.
It was a little different with Remy Imber, a 13 year old who lives in the community west of Brant and north of Lakeshore, where protecting the community from any development that will change the feel and character of the community is an article of faith.
Remy and several of his friends had built a 3 dimensional model of parts of the downtown core and he wanted city council to see it to show what the intensification is really going to mean. The people in the St. Luke’s neighbourhood are very protective of about what gets built in the downtown core.
Remy Imber delegating to city council with the 3D model of parts of the downtown core.
There are a number of small developers who have taken small projects to city hall only to find that they have to face an often hostile neighbourhood meeting. Some of the project don’t go much further.
The community organization in the St Luke’s Precinct can get a message out in a matter of minutes should the need arrive.
The neighbourhood is made up of single family dwellings with small apartments sprinkled throughout the neighbourhood.
The Plaza with the No Frills supermarket is a short stroll for most residents. The downtown core is their base with a significant number of people in the community able to walk to their offices or retail establishment.
The health of the downtown core is vital for these people – so when the need to intensify became part of the political language of Burlington – the eyebrows were raised and the question – How much, how high and where – got asked.
 The northern wall of the 23 storey Brant development will come close close to the Centro retail outlet on Brant – too close for many people. When the 23 storey condominium at Brant and John Street was approved the residents were alarmed. The building was going to take up a good stretch of Brant street – right up to the edge of Centro, a retail operation that sells home decorating items and operates a gardening business as well and has a small outdoor garden and plant operation that leads out into the parking lot behind where there is a small Sunday farmer’s market that is very popular.
With Centro about to have the northern wall of a very tall building right beside them the neighbourhood wanted to know what the downtown core would look like with a number of very tall buildings going up. Saying it would rise 23 storeys is one thing, seeing a scale model was something else.
The residents had asked the city to provide a 3 dimensional model and were told that it wasn’t possible – not enough in the way of staff resources to take on the task and a lot of the data needed wasn’t available.
 S t. Luke’s: a neighbourhood that feels it is at risk with the city’s intensification plans. The people of St. Luke’s precinct people are resourceful – if the city couldn’t create a 3 dimensional model – then they would make one.
That’s where Remy and his friends became the front line. Parents found themselves driving all over the region buying up all the available shades of grey LEGO blocks needed to create the model that they will now take almost anywhere.
One parent said they bought up all the available grey LEGO between Burlington and the Don Valley Parkway.
They found a way to get the model included in a Standing Committee meeting – not something the city really wanted to see happen and certainly not something any of the council members applauded, with the exception of the ward Councillor, Marianne Meed Ward.
The display of the 3 dimensional model became part of the delegation 13 year old Remy was giving. He explained what the different buildings were and letting people get a sense as to just how high 23 storeys are when set beside city hall, Simms Square, the Queen’s Head – and including other projects that are now in the hands of the planners who have to prepare a report for city council.
 Deputy city manager Mary Lou Tanner, on the left, looks over the LEGO model built by Remy Imber and several of his friends. The model was on display at the recent Bfast Transit Forum where the former Director of Planning, and now Deputy City Manager Mary Lou Tanner gave it a look.
She had one of those Queen Elizabeth “We are not amused” looks on her face.
That model could well become a part of the race for the office of Mayor as well as the race for whoever gets to represent the ward at city council come the October 22nd election.
By Jim Young, Chair – EcoB
April 29th. 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
It is said that “In a democracy, people get the kind of government they deserve”. We believe Burlington deserves better than this.
On Thursday, ignoring the highest number of delegations in its history and some of the best detailed critiques by citizens from every corner of the city and rural areas; Burlington City Council passed its contentious new Official Plan (OP).
 Directly opposite city hall on the north side of James street – 23 storey tower, with a proposed tower to the south. Height for that tower – yet to be determined. While opposition focused on the downtown, widely viewed as belonging to everyone, there was equal concern about over intensification in individual residential communities. The plan, seven years in the making, was seen by most as too developer friendly, too much in thrall to the province and the region and too often dismissive of local concerns.
 A bus terminal and ticket vending site that was once going to be closed got upgraded to mobility hub. Putting aside the fears of over intensification in the downtown, the failure to consider more balanced approaches to intensification, the fact that Burlington is already meeting its intensification goals and the ridiculous notion that the John St. bus stop is a “Downtown Mobility Hub”, then the missing details like the definitions of site specific height limits for some precincts, particularly around the Mobility Hubs and the absence of supporting Transit and Parking plans; the greatest point of contention was always the feeling that citizen input was ignored.
 A packed public meeting at city hall The city claims that engagement on the OP was above and beyond but who gets to define “Real Engagement”? In a seven year planning process the city only started to hold information sessions in late 2017 in the unseemly rush to make the downtown a Mobility Hub and therefore an Urban Growth Centre. Only after citizen anger brought ECoB (Engaged Citizens of Burlington) into being did the city even start to pay attention. ECoB position is that this was always too little, too late and that informing is not engagement.
Numerous meetings with Planning and Communication staff failed to move them on the major issues of importance to citizens. Councillors Craven, Taylor, Dennison and Lancaster declined to discuss the OP or the process. The Mayor and Councillor Sharman met with us but had difficulty accepting any vision of engagement other than the staff line that “Information is Engagement”. Only Councillor Meed Ward encouraged greater citizen engagement and her motions at council reflected this.
 Councillor Rick Craven – wasn’t available to meet with ECoB  Councillor John Taylor wasn’t available to meet with ECoB  Councillor Jack Dennison wasn’t able to meet with ECoB  Councillor Blair Lancaster wasn’t able to meet with ECoB In the final analysis this is another bad plan finalized much too quickly after 7 years of stagnating on staff desks, in an attempt to prevent it from becoming an election issue. It will still be too easy for developers to get sidestepping amendments and it may even favour developers at the newly created Land Planning xxx Tribunal (LPAT) more than the old OP if that had remained in place. Burlington will continue to evolve with much needed resident input. Make this an election issue, change can happen with a new Council.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this, too often, rancorous debate was the self-congratulatory back slapping and high fiving by council on Thursday when they finally approved the new Official Plan. It felt like a council gloating on a victory over its citizens.
Although Council adopted this Official Plan, it requires Regional approval. Staff will be pushing their plan through the Region with additional amendments and the studies that have yet to be completed. Residents will still have the opportunity to demand changes. Until the Region accepts this OP the current OP remains in effect.
 October 22nd is municipal election day in Burlington A new Council can overturn this Official Plan and residents get to choose who fills those council positions in the coming election. You can support candidates of your choice, who reflect your views and work to get them elected in October.
If “The purpose of debate is not to win but to make progress,” then ECoB will continue to seek progress from this debate. If any good is to come from this, it should be in the form of improved citizen engagement; despite the city’s claims, there is much room for improvement.
ECoB will explore all options, and continue to reach out to City Council, Communication and Management Staff. A start point for that outreach might well be the long ignored 2011 council report “Shape Burlington”, which uncannily predicts the present citizen engagement issues.
Shape Burlington Report.
By Jack Dennison, Ward 4 Councillor
April 28th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington city council heaved a sigh of relief Thursday afternoon and approved an Official Plan. The 400 page document now goes to Regional Council where it will be debated again, perhaps revised and sent back to Burlington. The Gazette has asked each member of council for a copy of the remarks they made after the Official Plan had been approved. Comments made by Jack Dennison, ward 4 council member. are set out below.
I recognize the desperate need to get our new Official Plan approved so that we are more in line with the Provincial Policy statements on growth and intensification. Our current Official Plan and Zoning By-laws are out of line with those Provincial plans. We the city should be able to successfully defend our new official plan heights and densities, where we were unsuccessful with 374 Martha/ADI/Nautique.
 Councillor Jack Dennison at a Strategic Planing meeting at LaSalle Park. That said, I still have difficulty with the proposed Official Plan where entire city blocks downtown have an Official Plan height of 17 storeys or less. Every property owner thinks their property can be developed to that height without consideration for variety of heights.
To solve this problem, we have to be site specific for tall buildings and shorter variety heights. This would allow movement within the blocks to create variety.
We need to:
• In the Downtown Core Precinct, identify that not every site will be suitable to accommodate a tall building and that design guidelines and the Zoning By-law will establish the minimum criteria which may accommodate different forms of buildings.
• Incorporate an effective transition between development within the Upper Brant Precinct and adjacent low density residential.
• Develop policies that will ensure that the conservation of existing heritage buildings is a priority by retaining heritage buildings on site; and ensuring new development must be compatible with adjacent cultural heritage resources.
• Consider implementing a phasing plan for development which could have significant adverse impact on the downtown infrastructure including the road network affecting motorists and/or pedestrians.
• And earlier we modified the 17 storeys to 12 storeys up to 17 based on additional public parking and employment spaces in the Downtown area, and increased the setback between tall buildings to 30 metres, and we do still have area specific plans and zoning bylaws through which we can continue to shape our community including our downtown.
Further, I want the OP and zoning bylaws to be in lock step and we aggressively defend the new OP and Zoning.
We do not want walls of buildings on our primary roads, Lakeshore, Brant and throughout our downtown.
 Jack Dennison the day he announced the sale of Cedar Springs. But as I already said, I feel I have no choice but to support the approval of the proposed Official Plan which has been substantially modified through the excellent input from many constituents, including ECOB as well as the Council and staff as a team with the residents – This has been a 7 year process that we had to complete. Thank you to staff for their willingness to listen and amend where they could. We are #1 and we will continue to be #1.
I totally disagree with the east side of Brant Street north of Blairholm Avenue having heights of 7 – 25 storeys, immediately adjacent to single-family residential.
The west side of north Brant is proposed at 10-25 storeys but at least has a 3-storey podium next to Brant: with review in 10 years re: additional capacity to add more tall buildings.
39 proposed by OP team is more than 4 times present and approved.
26 proposed by Jack is less than 3 times present and approved.
Further I want the OP and zoning bylaws to be in lock step and we aggressively defend the new OP and Zoning.
The specific blocks I take issue with include:
1. Gore Variety: instead of 17, 6 and 3 ; have 6, 8 and 3.
2. 421 Brant Street North to Birch Avenue: instead of 3,6,8 and 11 ; have a variety of 3, 6, 8 and 11 with only every second block having an 11-storey building.
 Revenue Properties proposal for the former Elizabeth Interiors location. 3. 409 Brant Street (Elizabeth Interiors): instead of 3 to 17, have a maximum of 3 to 14 storeys and certainly not 24 storeys.
4. Esso Station at Locust and Lakeshore Road: specify 17 storeys at the back by the Parking Garage and 3 storeys at Lakeshore Road.
5. Modify the block at the northwest corner of James and Elizabeth have a maximum height of 8 storeys like City Hall, not 17 storeys.
6. Modify the block on the south side of Caroline Street between Brant and Locust to have a podium of 3 storeys and not exceed 6 storeys instead of 11 storeys.
 No Frills Plaza 7. Modify No Frills plaza to have a maximum height of 14 storeys, not 17, and the Brant Street building to not exceed 4 storeys instead of 6.
8. Modify the Leggat property to have a maximum height of 14 storeys, not 17, and a maximum at Brant Street of 4 storeys, not 6.
We do not want walls of building on our primary roads, Lakeshore, Brant and throughout our downtown.
But as I already said, I have no choice but to support the approval of the proposed Official Plan.
Dennison closed his comments with the observation that there were only four members of the public in the Council chamber. That was because for the most part the public did not know exactly when the special meeting of Council was to take place.
By Lisa Kearns
April 25th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Engaged Citizens of Burlington (ECoB) is a not for profit group working towards a better Burlington for generations to come.
 Lisa Kearns – part of the ECoB leadership team. Is there more than ECoB in her future? Working within the civic process, we are particularly concerned with issues of planning and development. The group is energized to bring voices and action to challenges that will affect the quality of life today and in the future, we are advocates for good planning across the entire City.
In the months from inception, ECoB has held an open meeting, a rally, a municipal elections workshop, hand delivered thousands of flyers, displayed hundreds of lawn signs, received press, appeared on community television and radio, grown our social media base, inspired a record number of delegations, met with provincial and municipal elected officials, city planning, business owners, developers and most importantly residents.
We have reflected on our position on the matters contained in the Draft Official Plan and truly reflect to objectively determine if we are the outliers, to see if were the radicals, to see if there was any truth to the tactics used to silence us. And here’s the thing, we are not. What we are – are concerned residents and now we are engaged.
From fragmented pockets across the city have woven together to tell the same story – we are not against growth – we are against excessive intensification and loss of community. The same Provincial Policy Statements are used in every development justification report and the same committee and council allow the most obtuse interpretation of these guidelines to promote efficient land use and development patterns. The same policies that govern Toronto and Mississauga have only one safety net in place and that is our Municipal Official Plan. That is why today is so important.
In previous delegations, residents and ECoB have set out specific areas for reconsideration. We asked to have the bar set higher – in the spirit of vibrancy to increase the uses in the Brant Main Precinct, we were successful in receiving a “should” contain three uses in the three storey podiums that extinguish our unique downtown retail. We talked about employment land designations and the ability to keep the door open for future considerations, we saw uproar that ensued from our agricultural friends.
 Kearns at the podium during the ECoB candidates meeting. We know you are aware there is a deficiency here and that is why the City has actively taken steps to ignore and deduce the consistent wave of pushing into this process.
The number of drafts that have come out, the inability to build a model that neighbourhood kids could complete, the inadvertent scheduling conflicts, the refusal to meet by some Councillors, the letter from the City Manager to silence instead of collaborate, thrown out petitions, NIMBY lawn signs in every ward, minutes of grow bold videos that hardly scratch the surface #growbold, #goodplanningmatters, and the most stinging “just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it isn’t good planning”.
Right down to the special meeting of Council scheduled directly after this Committee meeting – how is anything from the 30+ delegations today going to receive due process and influence the vote tomorrow?
And aren’t quite done. There is still the Transit Plan, the Transportation Plan, the Mobility Hub Plan, the secondary phase of the Downtown Area Specific Plan. The challenges are still ahead and if we cannot all be on the same page with the most important City document, we most certainly will be challenged in the phases that shape our future.
Here’s the thing, planning is suggestive and without doubt a challenging task and profession. While we know that we’ve been a pain we also want you to know that we do respect the work that has been done and hope that if anything, this pressure will give you more support to create a plan that is built exclusively for our great city.
We need to call a truce.
 ECoB’s first large community meeting – they had traction and a following. We are not against growth, we are not against change. But we are against it done poorly, done in a way that contravenes protection of established neighbourhoods, a way that cannot audit the 5% growth, cannot protect our own green space, and in a way that will ebb and flow as supporting plans come forward. We have asked for a complete vision and are no where close.
We are asking for help because it is not Ok to extend permissions for 18+ stories abutting low density residential, it is not Ok to allow in-congruent infill, it is not Ok to allow hundreds of town homes that double the density permissions, it is not Ok to push residents in Alton village, Pinedale, Bluewater/ Avondale, Dynes, Aldershot and more to the very edge – where the only option is seeking relief from the municipal tribunal.
It is not Ok to leave every resident wondering when they are going to have to become experts in the planning process that they have entrusted to those before us. Let’s make sure that the balance in in our favour now.
The province has mandated growth, we recognize that there needs to be growth, but is it councils responsibility to protect community. The question is does any of this document actually enforce a successful and complete community. We need the Committee to insist that amenities are included not just residential. It is about quality of life and not quantity of people. We seem to be more focused on getting people out of the city instead of keeping people in the city – embedded into their communities through a live, work and play approach.
We have tried everything possible to bring a sense of balance, to bring a better vision, to bring a complete plan and we are exhausted. We have asked, does the city want to fight with the residents or against the residents, only you can decide with the vote today.
And so, with the last chance to address this Draft Official Plan today we ask you to let down your guard, let us in, and really hear your residents. We continually hear Staff ask – “is this plan defensible”, and yet the bigger question is “is this plan accountable?”.
This is the last chance to be accountable to residents today and residents in the future.
Lisa Kearns is a downtown Burlington resident who has been instrumental in creating ECoB – Engaged Citizens of Burlington.
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