MAD needs funding if it is to be properly represented at OLT hearing - $40 thousand short at this point

By Pepper Parr

September 15th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON’

 

An update on the preparations for the March Ontario Land Tribunal hearing on the development application to add close to 100 homes to the golf course site.

On Tuesday, September 26 at 9:30am, Burlington city council will consider a resolution to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to declare a provincial interest in preserving Millcroft’s greenspace.

If successful, such a resolution has the potential to halt the Ontario Land Tribunal hearing. However, we cannot rely on this option’s success exclusively.
In the event the resolution is passed, MAD will contact supporters to write to their local MPPs, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and the Premier in support of the resolution.

The OLT hearing’s confirmed parties are Millcroft Against Bad Development, City of Burlington, Region of Halton, Halton Conservation Authority, Millcroft Greenspace Alliance, and Millcroft Greens.

Each party has exchanged its witness list. Chantal Desereville of Weir Foulds (Legal Counsel) and Allan Ramsey (Land Use Planner) will represent MAD at the hearing.

The key dates for the OLT process are as follows:

October 13 – Meeting of party experts
October 27 – Statement of facts
November 24 – Exchange of witness statements, summoned witness outlines, expert reports
December 15 – Exchange of response to witness statements
March 5 – Hearing commences (expected to be 19 days)

Political opposition to the development
The City of Burlington, Region of Halton, and Halton Conservation all oppose the development application and will call several expert witnesses. MAD believes each of these parties will vigorously oppose the application and have the financial means to supply the appropriate experts. With close to 6,000 registered supporters, MAD has the political voice to make an impact at the OLT hearing.

MAD initiatives
Over the summer, MAD executives continued to engage with city Councilors and provincial MPPs to rally their support for our cause and explore pathways to halt the development prior to an OLT hearing. Due to our approximately 6,000 supporters, many Councilors, MPPs, and other politically significant people and groups now follow MAD on social media. We have also been working with our expert team, Allan Ramsey and Chantal Desereville, in preparing for the

OLT hearing.
MAD had a fundraising concert on Hadfield Court with the Torque classic rock band sponsored by Glen Bowker, which raised over $4,000. We have partnered with Small Change Fund to allow supporters to receive a charitable donation receipt for their contributions to our cause.

Mad’s participation at OLT – A Critical role
As the most directly impacted party at the hearing, it is critical that MAD present Allan Ramsey’s expert testimony on land use planning, with world-class legal counsel for opening statements and cross-examination. MAD, as the united community voice, is an indispensable party in ensuring any proposal reflects the best interests of the entire neighbourhood and city, should a negotiated solution be considered.

Funding the efforts

The projected cost of our participation at the OLT is $60,000. The majority of these costs will be related to our professional advisors, with the remainder to be spent on outreach and continued communication with our supporters. MAD has approximately $20,000 in reserve. Consequently, we need to raise $40,000. We believe this to be a realistic fundraising target. If we are unable to raise these funds, we will be unable to participate meaningfully at the OLT hearing.

Ways to donate
• Donate through our website
• E-transfer to admin@millcroftagainstdevelopment.ca
• Cheque
o Mail or drop off at 2067 Hadfield Court, Burlington, Ontario, L7M 3V5.
o For pickup, email admin@millcroftagainstdevelopment.ca
Tax Receipt Option – Small Change Fund

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Conservation Halton would like any comments people can provide on the flooding around Hole 3 - Berwick on the golf course

By Staff

July 31st, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Conservation Halton(CH) completed a East Burlington Creeks Flood Hazard Mapping Study.

Millcroft Against Development (MAD) said the “Observational information from residents helped “ground-truth” the study findings and strengthen CH’s understanding of the flood hazard in the Millcroft Golf Club area.

CH staff reviewed the information provided in MAD’s July 6th, 2023 report as well as emails with observations and feedback from 2022 and 2021 when the study commenced. Specifically, engineers from CH’s floodplain mapping team have evaluated the comprehensive feedback from Millcroft residents relative to the draft flood hazard modelling and mapping from the study.

Only riverine flooding that is associated with a flood hazard of a watercourse is regulated by CH and was mapped as part of CH’s study. The reported observations of riverine flooding in this area are generally consistent with study modelling, which considered flooding associated with a range of storm events including more frequent storms to very rare events such as the August 4, 2014 storm, the 1:100 year storm, and the Hurricane Hazel Regional Storm.

However, in the area around Hole 3, a reported observation of flooding along a fence does not align with the draft flood hazard modelling and mapping from CH’s study. To confirm whether this observation may be related to riverine flooding, CH floodplain mapping program staff would appreciate an opportunity to meet with any residents who provided flood observations related to the Hole 3 area on their properties, to gain a clearer understanding of their observations.

The Millcroft Against Development (MAD) Admin team would appreciate your assistance in connecting residents who provided the observations related to flooding around Hole 3/Berwick with Conservation Halton.

Please email the Admin team at admin@millcroftagainstdevelopment.ca with your contact information.

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Has the beginning of a shift in the way Council will work going forward begun - and are there new faces building a profile?

By Pepper Parr

July 19th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

OPINION

Let’s take a look at three women who are part of the Burlington political world.

Mayor Meed Ward once said she has 17 points of contact with her constituents – and she uses every one of them regularly.

Marianne Meed Ward has served the city as a Councillor and as Mayor now in her second term. In 2026 she will have served the city for 16 years which will result in a very decent pension. Will she run again? Will she be opposed by a member of Council; two that we are aware of harbour hopes of wearing the chain of office.

Shawna Stolte has been the Councillor for ward 4 since 2018. Her Integrity Commissioner problems made her first term very difficult and many were not certain she would run again. But she did and was the Deputy Mayor for the Council meeting July 11th. Watching how she handled the meeting one got the sense that she liked the role; perhaps chairing Council meetings on a regular basis was even more appealing than when we had a conversation with her about wearing the Chain of Office.

Daintry Klein, the woman who advocates for green space and has been a tireless advocate for the Millcroft community and doing everything she can to prevent any future development on the golf course properties.

A recent community meeting was to urge resident of Millcroft to donate the funds needed to hire the experts that will get the organizations leads through the Ontario Land Tribunal hearing that is working its way through the bureaucracy.

The shaded areas show where the 98 additional houses will be built.

Klein did a good job of explaining why the funds were needed and how much was needed.

Angelo Bentivegna – has no problem in ignoring groups in his ward. Was absent at the most recent meeting of Millcroft Green Alliance

The ward Councillor Angelo Bentivegna was absent – he appears to have decided to keep his distance from the Millcroft Greenspace Alliance.

What made the meeting awkward for Klein was that Mayor Meed Ward attended and told the audience that she didn’t want to see the case now at the OLT take place. She told the audience that she was going to work the telephones and get a decision from the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs to put an end to the development application.

Given that the Mayor now has Strong Mayor powers she could put a stop to it in minutes. Is that in the offing?

Last week, Klein delegated to a Statutory meeting on a development in the ward that she felt created some risk from an environmental perspective.

She learned to her surprise that the planner speaking for the people who owned the property told council that they did not yet have a client because the people they wanted to offer the property to needed more in the way of certainty on just what they could and could not do.

Despite the surprise Klein continued until Councillor Sharman, who was chairing the Statutory meeting, asked her to speak to the specific issue. Taken aback Kline did a quick pivot and talked about the need to keep environmental issues a close to the top issue when it came time to make a decision.

There was no strong reason for Klein to be doing a delegation other than to maintain the profile she has in the community.

A working relationship with ward Councillor Angelo Bentivegna hardly exists and Klein would not be taking all that much of a risk should decide she could do a better job as the Councillor for ward 6.

Shawna Stolte has weathered everything the Mayor has thrown at her and has managed to hold her own.

The dynamic between the three women is interesting. Stolte took a very unfair drubbing from Meed Ward when she attempted to revise a Council meeting agenda and force Stolte to issue a public apology who was once her administrative assistant. Stole did a fine job of turning the tables and calling out the Mayor for what really was atrocious behaviour. We once again share that behaviour – here is the link.

Mayor Meed Ward did herself no favours when she told the audience of a meeting Klein had called that there was no reason to raise funds because she, the Mayor, was going to do everything in her power to prevent the matter of developing some of the golf course lands – where the developer wants to build 98 high end houses on a very desirable location – even if they are shoe horning them in at some of the locations Those homes will sell just is as soon is as the developer knows his appeal to the OLT come out with a decision in their favour.
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The Mayor does not have a strong working relationship with the Millcroft Greenspace Alliance and she certainly doesn’t have a quality working relationship with Stolte.

The interesting scenario is we have a Mayor who doesn’t have a strong, positive working relationship with at least one member of her council, has another member who isn’t interested in serving parts of his constituency and appears to be blunting the efforts of a community that needs all the help it can get to prevent a radical change.

Daintry Klein has worked tirelessly to keep the interest of her community in the public eye. Is she ready to sit at the table where the decisions are made. She would be at positive addition.

Daintry Kline has a strong background in the finance sector and has been more than diligent in working for her community. Does that translate into running for public office – Klein  has said she has no interest – they all do that until they announce that they want to serve their community and would be honoured to do just that.

Stolte and Klein would get along well – the have that “community first” in their DNA.

Keep an eye on both of them.

As for the Mayor – she will let you know what she is up to.

Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.

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It is going to take more than grassroots love to stop Doug Ford from doing whatever he wants to do with the Regions

By Pepper Parr

May 22nd, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Doug Ford is at it again. He seems to have this fixation on what the municipal level of government is all about. He continues to meddle and muddle until he finds something that suits his fancy. In the process, he creates great churn and turmoil in all levels of government below the province.

The government introduced legislation on Thursday dubbed the “Hazel McCallion Act” to dissolve Peel Region and have the three municipalities stand on their own starting Jan. 1, 2025.
Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon will be ‘peeled’ apart in under two years — and six other regions have been put on notice that they could be next.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark said he was taking “decisive action” to help the municipalities build more homes.
Ontario also said it will appoint “regional facilitators” in the coming weeks for the upper-tier municipalities of Durham, Halton, Niagara, Simcoe, Waterloo and York. Their job will be to find out whether the municipalities that make up those regions are able to stand on their own.

The facilitators were initially announced in November with the goal of looking into whether the regions should get strong mayor powers, and to advise on “the best mix of roles and responsibilities between upper and lower-tier municipalities” for tackling the housing crisis.

Simcoe, which was initially left off the list, was added on Thursday.

Now, the government is explicitly saying the D-word – dissolution!

“These facilitators will be tasked with reviewing whether the upper-tier government continues to be relevant to the needs of its communities or whether the lower-tier municipalities are mature enough to pursue dissolution,” reads the Thursday release.

It’s still unclear who the facilitators will be.

“Details regarding the facilitators and the timing of their appointment are under development and we will have more to share on that soon,” Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) spokesperson Melissa Diakoumeas said in an email.

None of the municipalities provided comment about their potential dissolution by press time.

There’s nothing in the new legislation about expanding any municipal boundaries, as the government has been wont to do, sometimes without warning. Of course, the facilitators could make that recommendation; or the government could decide to do it at any time.

Clark was asked on Thursday why Simcoe was added to the list.   “I think we’ve always had that discussion, given the high growth pressures in Simcoe County,” he said. “Servicing is obviously an issue.”

Regional Chair Gary Carr, speaking at the Millcroft resident’s meeting said that there were huge changes coming to the Region. At the time Chair Carr didn’t elaborate – now we know what he was talking about.

The up-to-five-person transition board that will oversee Peel Region’s breakup has a slew of issues that will have to be sorted out — like the future of municipal taxes, finances, regional staff, conservation authorities, and the Peel Region Police — by 2025.

The transition board will also have the power to ban the municipalities from doing things it deems would hurt the dissolution. If the municipalities ignore the board, the legislation gives power to Clark to step in and manage their affairs directly.

The Ford government will appoint the panel’s members sometime this year — and the municipalities will foot the bill, according to the legislation.

We Love Burlington fought the good fight back in 2018-19 – the report that was to be released has yet to see the light of day. The government is in the process of taking another crack at changing the role that Regions play in the building of the residential housing the city has pledged to deliver.

That same process will be used when the province decides to take another look at how Halton operates. This might revive the “We Love Burlington” advocacy group.

In 2018/19, the newly elected PC Government undertook a review of regional governments with specific emphasis on achieving economies of scale, reduction of red tape and operating efficiencies through amalgamation.

The direction was directly opposite that announced on Thursday; it was to assimilate specific lower tier municipalities into the upper tier government.

It projected multiple benefits through consolidating services at the regional level and dramatically reforming or eliminating local governments.

Former Waterloo chair Ken Seiling, right, and former deputy minister Michael Fenn (who was once a General Manager with the City of Burlington) were tasked with the review to be prepared and reported by early summer of 2019. The report they submitted was never released to the public.

There were specific target regions – Halton, York, Durham, Waterloo, Niagara, Peel, Muskoka District, Oxford County, the County of Simcoe and their lower-tier municipalities. Former Waterloo chair Ken Seiling and former deputy minister Michael Fenn were tasked with the review to be prepared and reported by early summer of 2019.

Grass roots organizations quickly sprouted in Oakville and Burlington (the “We Loves”) to fight amalgamation and counter the perceived threat to local decision-making and the expression of local voice. The anti-amalgamation campaign was short but relatively intense and well-co-ordinates. Although public opinion seemed to be split in other regions, Halton presented a common face and championed preserving local autonomy. What started with much fanfare and bluster ended quietly in late June 2019 when the Ford Government announced that they would receive the report but neither publish nor act on its recommendations.

So, today it’s “déjà vu all over again” but in reverse with the regional governments in danger of dissolution, of being “peeled back”. This is not a victory for local autonomy and the integrity of local governance and decision-making. Municipalities, such as Burlington, are still the creation of the Province and very much subject to its control and direction.
Indeed, early messaging from Queen’s Park is that an even tighter choke will be placed around the lower tier neck.

Some of these municipalities, such as Burlington, may not recognize themselves when this is through.

Ironically, those who founded the 2019 We Love Burlington campaign would find it difficult to pose the same arguments of local governance integrity and transparency today.

Related news story:

Opinion piece on the changes in Regional government.

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Spread the Word, Make an Impact! Tonight is the Night!

By Staff

May 8th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

 

It was built as a community within a golf course – and the residents want to keep it that way.

Spread the Word, Make an Impact!

Millcroft Greenspace Alliance is committed to preserving the entire Millcroft Golf Course Greenspace using an approach that is grounded in research, advocacy, and leveraging resources.

Tonight is the Night! Learn More about…

Our unique strategy to preserve the Millcroft Golf Course green infrastructure, and its importance to our community’s case at the OLT in response to recent legislative changes.
MGA has been fortunate to have significant professional and business support from our neighbours who have volunteered to help analyze the Millcroft Greens application and develop our strategy.

We have focused our efforts on advocacy to find a solution to maintain this greenspace in advance of the OLT. As the OLT hearing draws near, we must now hire a seasoned municipal litigator and a stormwater expert to represent our strategy.

When: Today (May 8th) at 7:30pm
Where: Grace United Church (Millcroft Park Drive and Walkers Line)

We encourage you to forward this email to neighbours, family or friends to remind them of tonight’s community meeting.

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Food trucks and feeding the public - Councillors loved the idea and wanted access to all the data collected

By Pepper Parr.

April 24th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The staff from the Communications and Engagement department showed up at a Standing Committee recently with a long report that set out everything they’d done since their last report – one list was 15 pages long.

Kwab Ako-Adjei Director, Corporate Communications & Engagement

Kwab Ako-Adjei Director, Corporate Communications & Engagement  and his team spoke of the “extraordinary amount of engagement that was done by the city which includes council as well” and then went on to take council through what had been done since their last annual report.

We are a “ very data driven department” and we will start sharing a lot of that with counsel in the near future”, said Kwab

The phrase “giving people a choice for their voice” was the way Communications explained the decision to continue in person or online engagement or a combination of both.

The question Kwab may have wished he didn’t ask was: “What is the will of council for having the Food for Feedback event as an annual event? And what about the locations?

He and his team were before Council to get reaction on various city communications issues, however the Food for Feedback initiative quickly became the focus of the meeting – that and the desire on the part of every member of council for access to all the data collected and a plea that the event be held in their ward at some point.

The Food for Feedback idea was you got a ticket to get something to eat from a Food Truck that was parked nearby – but you had to “engage” with city staff at one of the booth set up in the Band Shell park next to the Library.

It was a popular event – two Food for Feedback events were held – Covid did get in the way of their longer term plans, but it worked and that was the premise behind the report.

Kwab wasn’t prepared for the reaction. He explained that these events were expensive.

Council didn’t seem to care – what they were interested in was doing more of the Food for Feedback events and asking if they could be held more often and in their ward would be nice.

Councillor Sharman explained that it would cost next to nothing to do a Food for Feedback event in his ward and tied it into events that were already scheduled – his annual Appleby Line Street Festival was his angle.

The first Food for Feedback event drew 1000 people. What the Gazette doesn’t recall learning was – what did the city get in the way of feedback – and what did the event cost ?

The first event was held in 2019, 1000 people were reported to have attended. COVID knocked out 2020 and 2021. An event was held in 2022 at Brant Hills where 640 people are reported to have attended.

The criteria for these events was put together by the communications department – their recommendation was to hold the event at Central Park band shell because it met all of the criteria.

That criteria became an issue – first because Councillors didn’t think it was accurate and second – they didn’t like the criteria.

Kwab said “… we know you have questions – we have a lot of documentation about how we came up with this criteria, adding that not all wards actually have a suitable location based on this criteria.”

That’s where the differences of opinion began to become evident – almost every member of Council was able to explain how the event could be run in their ward.

Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan did his best to make sure the Food for Feedback was held in his ward as often as possible.

First up was Councillor Nisan who said “great work, expecting less and you more than exceeded expectations adding that he was “ basically really happy with everything else but was having a sports field as a criteria is a good thing or a bad thing ?”

Kwab: “We often cannot use a sports field – some other group may have booked the space but not the rest of a park area.
The staff member who had worked in the Events depart with the city for 10 years, explained “we are not permitted to have events on sports fields. We can be in a park but not use the sports fields that are adjacent to and within a park.”

Nisan, no fool when it comes to bringing opportunities to his ward, offered to have the Food For Feedback event at Brant Hills every second year asking “Is there a willingness to rotate – have it at Brant Hills … do you have any issues with doing so?

Kwab responds: “Our first choice would be Central Band Shell however, we are obviously open to the will of council to have north- south alternate every year and our suggestion would be Brant Hills would be the North location because it does meet all of the criteria.

Mayor Meed Ward followed Nisan saying she had few questions – mostly comments and asked if “You have social stats for other channels; there’s the City of Burlington and then there’s the rec one. Are there other city channels out there that we can get data on ? The only other data source I can think of off the top of my head is transit; I am very interested, if you gather those stats, to see any other city channels that are out there.

Kwab: “Recreation has a number of accounts as well as Instagram accounts – we do work with them with to make sure that they are properly engaging with the community. We could share the stats and data on that.”

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward – she wanted data.

Mayor: “That’d be awesome. And I assume that there’s some sort of technology tool that you possibly pay for to get all these stats. Can you run it for council channels, so we can see what our own engagement levels are? Other than just you know, looking at them?

Kwab: I’d have to go back and chat with Kevin (City Clerk) about that. There would be an additional cost, because it’s Sprout Social that we use and they are limited in the accounts. But we can see if there is a way to do it. I mean, it does do comparisons to neighbouring municipalities and as you can see, generally speaking in terms of engagement or impressions, we are well above the industry so it does do those sorts of comparisons but to pull specific Councillor data; I’d have to check on that and get back to you on what the potential cost of would be.

Mayor Meed Ward: “We can talk about that offline. I’d be really interested to look into Sprout.

Shawna Stolte, ward 4 Councillor who is currently on a two month leave of absence.

Councillor Stolte noted that the event held in September 2022 had a total of 640 people attending and was told that approximately 1000 people attended at Central Park in 2019?

“When I attended the one at Brand Hills I asked if they were feeling there was representation from across the city and asked: “ Did you take any stats on where people were hailing from when they came out? I certainly got the impression that most of the attendees of 640 were from the north ward 3 area.

Kwab: “Some might have asked but as a whole we didn’t ask – but that’s something we can definitely implement for the future.”

Councillor Kearns: “Can we think about or bring back something to have a more thorough discussion on regarding Food for Feedback during the election year? There was quite a lot of conversation out there around the appropriateness of sitting councillors and or candidates attending – wondering if we can have a further discussion on that at some point.

Kearns also wanted to know more about the social media – “wondering if you can provide some additional insight on how does the information garnered through social media get back to council or help with decision making?”

Kwab – Do you mean the kind of feedback that we get?

Stolte piped in with: “ I don’t think I’ve ever received something from social media through the city to help with decision making, whether that be in a report or anything to that effect goes out, or how it comes back in?

Michelle Dyer, part of the Communications department team, who does more than analyze data.

Michelle Dyer, part of the Communications department team: “ We know we do want to make sure we’re sharing more information with counsel in terms of our social media, posts and content. So stay tuned – we’re developing a toolkit that will point to some of the information that we share on social media that will be coming to council very soon.

“In terms of feedback. I mean, we get a lot of comments on social media, a tonnes of comments. I mean, if we compile it all there would be reams and reams of pages. Kevin (City Clerk) and Victoria do a great job of going through those comments. And if they do pertain to a particular department or anything like that we do share it with them. If there’s anything specific to council I think you need to see I’m fairly certain that’s something that we would share directly with members of council but there are many instances that we share the feedback that we get from social directly with staff, which couldn’t make its way into reports or memos or any of that information. They’re also very looped into our social media channels and what we’re doing but if there’s anything specific, I think that counsel needs to be aware of we would definitely share with you directly.

Ward 6 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna wanted more detail on the criteria that was used to choose locations for the Food for Feedback events. He pointed out that the ward 6 Arlene Park and Millcroft Park;, two fairly large parks in his ward “but the criteria says no in terms of parking and I don’t understand that.”

Kwab: ” In regards to the two parks in your ward, the reason it was no is because based on the other amenities that are in the park and the attendance that we expect for the event we don’t believe there would be enough parking for the event to occur as well as the regular Park activities. So that’s why we put no just to kind of prevent any potential parking issues.”

Ward 6 Councillor had to update the Communications on the number of parks in his ward.

Bentivegna:. “We’ve got parking lots including two massive parking lots next door to each other. My other question would be choosing the location and the question about which wards they come from. I agree with Councillor Stolte I think people sometimes assume okay, it’s in central that means it’s downtown stuff. I know food trucks costs money but you know, maybe we don’t do the food trucks. I think the neighborhoods would walk. I mean, if you’re having it in Alton Village, they’re going to walk to play in the Doug Wright park. I do believe the criteria as to where and why people go to these events is very, very important.

Kwab: “I think if we just step back for a second, we had a clear interest from counsel to make sure that we would move this around. So that’s where we started from knowing that this is what counsel wants. Let’s look at the location. If counsel says they want to have this ongoing feedback every year; my opinion is that they would be in September and as we stand right now, it will be with food trucks, because I know they’re very popular. So we said okay, let’s go and let’s look at where we can actually have this. And when we take all these things into consideration – we could live with moving around; sure we can, but I think we have to consider that there may not be enough parking. If it rains, we may have to move it indoors. We can’t get on the sports field, these are all the things that we need to consider.

This is our recommendation, council wants to move it around. That’s why we presented those options for Council to consider and ultimately direct us to what you what want us to do.

Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman – no he wasn’t asleep.

Councillor Sharman : “Thank you very much for the report. Lots of complexity. So with respect to the Orchard, it is probably the urban area furthest away from downtown and Orchard people don’t come downtown very much. Orchard Park has a school right in the middle that has washrooms and has parking. We did a 2000 person event in Orchard Park last summer and there was no problem. My question is it possible that the school board properties can be used?

“This is a Sunday event? no kids in the schools; there’s plenty of space and there’s even public washrooms paid for by the city.”

The Appleby Line Car Free Sunday was better attended than the one on Brant Street several weeks later. Over time the attendance grew to the point where it is now an annual well attended event.

Kwab – “We can certainly work with them, Again, we do have those risk factors to take into consideration .”

Sharman: “The other question I have is Sherwood Forest Park. It has everything Why is it not on our list?”

Kwab: “We tried to kind of pick two locations per ward that have had events in the past. Sherwood is such a well utilized space. We wouldn’t want to take that out of the inventory for the community if there was already bookings there in regards to the different amenities they have.

Galbraith: I’m just gonna jump in here first time. Thanks for the report. Really, really good and congratulations for creating such a great event that every counselor wants it in their ward including myself.

Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith – he wanted to see those food trucks at LaSalle Park.

Looking at the two parks available for Ward 1 – Can you explain the no because of parking at LaSalle?

Kwab: “I think we’re hearing what counsel wants. So we can take this away and come back with our recommendations and we’ll move this around, or we can certainly wait for direction at this at this point in time. I mean based on based on the discussion that we’re hearing, – I will certainly leave it to counsel but I think we’re getting the message – loud and clear.

Galbraith: I think if it was moved around the city and then came back to Central it would be even better because everyone got exposure to it.
Stolte: “Back to Food for Feedback – there’s no doubt that having it in a park with green grass is ideal. But the real ideal is getting as many people out as possible and having it at the right location.

“Could we consider other city facilities and I’m thinking in Ward 4 maybe the Mainway arena?”  “Can we consider venues other than just parks? If we’re going to look at moving it around?”

Kwab: We didn’t plan it that way initially and we have the indoor space more as a rain area in case there’s inclement weather; if there was too much separation between the booths and the food trucks people may eat but not take part in the purpose of the event – let’s be honest, they’re giving out food, some wouldn’t be doing the feedback.

Stolte: Food trucks could go inside the arena. Would it be the least bit feasible to consider hosting two food for feedback events, whether it be two on the same day, or subsequent Saturday’s holding one in the south and one of the North?

Kwab Ako-Adjei Director, Corporate Communications & Engagement found he was getting a lot of criticism and fed new ideas by members of Council.  The upside for him was he is going to be able to go after a bigger budget in future.

Kwab: The short answer: anything is possible. The logistics and the costs would have to be taken into consideration and how you would determine which staff you send North versus the South, which engagement opportunity that you that you had so simultaneous – that would maybe be a challenge.

Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan

“Let me reiterate we’ve only done this twice. So we are definitely open to feedback and in terms of how we improve this.

Nisan: “I am open if there’s more questions about Food for Feedback but let me just put it on the table at this point. And then they can have questions and answers. That’s what I would suggest. The motion was to approved the continuation of Food for Ffeedback as an annual engagement event to be rotated between different suitable locations across the city each year.

“I think that gets us landing what we want of this This leads us to essentially a report back

“I would assume staff would come back to us through a CIP which would allow us to, to review and make modifications if we wish, but give them the opportunity to do some more work on it and look at some of the different options that we’ve all raised today.

Certainly would love to have Brant Hills park back again.”

Stolte: Thank you just speaking to this proposed amendment, which I certainly agree with about it being rotated between different suitable locations. Staff. Do you feel the need for us to add in things like and consider two events or a weekend event or anything like that? Or do you feel as though you have enough feedback from the conversation?

Kwab: “We would have to have more resources to look at multiple events.

“The recommendation is to have it in at Central Park for 2023 .”

Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman – hold the events at either his Appleby Street Festival or at Sherwood Park – and don’t feel you have a tonne of money.

Sharman: “I really appreciate the hard work that goes into the annual event. That is a big deal. But actually, you don’t need to put a lot of work into doing it in existing events. And it doesn’t need to cost us a lot of money. We don’t need to pay bags of cash for food, because we’ll have people that we can do other incentives.

“I’m also suggesting that we don’t necessarily limit this to an annual event and you don’t need to make it a big deal. Perhaps you could just put that into your thinking, because you can have as many as you want. It may be a booth and it may be some incentive but I think there’s opportunities to do a lot more.

“Last year, we had 14 or 16 booths and I think it was similar in 2019. So I mean, we would have no issue. Our staff if it was just you know, having a booth on engagement and communication, but I think maybe where it might get tricky is is having the number of events if in fact we wanted to have that many booths to garner feedback, that would possibly be the only issue.

“The other thing too is the timing of projects that require feedback, right? It changes throughout the year. So those would be the only some of the cautions that I would add please, for that, you’re gonna have the north end of our Appleby Line Festival – and you can have as many booths as you want.

Now we wait to see how the Communications department reacts. It is clear council wants the Food for Feedback events to happen.

Equally clear is that Communications didn’t appear to have brought much in the way of imagination or innovation to revising the event.  All the good ideas came from members of Council with Kwab saying he would “look into that,”

What was all too evident was that the engagement people don’t do engagement very well.  But they do collect data – ‘tonnes of it”.

 

 

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Ward 3 Councillor had more financial support in the 2022 election from people who did not live in the ward than from those who did

By Staff

April 17th, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan at one of the few Council meetings he attended in person.

Rory Nisan, the candidate for ward 3 in the October municipal election who was returned to office did not contribute any of his own money to his campaign (aside from buying signs).

He received 36 donations over $100. Only 16 of those donors reside in Ward 3. Of those 16, 10 are in rural area, only 6 reside in “urban” Ward 3.

Six live in ward 6 – 4 in Millcroft

Six live outside Burlington (including one erroneously listed as a Burlington address but which is in fact Toronto).

Four donors who donated to him in 2018 donated again in 2022 (one from outside Burlington).

One might ask if Nisan actually prioritizes his Ward 3 residents or is he spending more time and energy on those outside Ward 3? If so, why?

Rory Nisan retrieving a package from the back seat of his car at a house in ward 2 that he purchased in June of 2022, before he was re-elected in ward 3. Building permits were obtained in December of 2022.

We will watch with interest to see what he does or doesn’t do for Ward 3 this term. He does still live there, right?

The Chair of the Heritage Committee donated $300 (Rory sat on Heritage Committee last term but isn’t on it now).

Nick Leblovic, Committee of Adjustment member donated $$250 to the campaign. This is only relevant with respect to the Integrity Commission complaint regarding Leblovic which council now must consider. Will Nisan recuse himself due to this conflict?

Rory had a fundraising dinner on June 23, 2022, $250/ticket – 8 tickets sold. After expenses, this brought in just under $1000. Dinner touted a “special guest”. Anyone know who the special guest was?

Karl Wulf donated food and beverages the day after this event, at a cost of $748.46. He is the Co-Chair of the Mayor’s Millennial Advisory Committee and understood to be a local realtor. This amount may have been a portion of the $983.30 expense listed under “Food and Beverage” for the June 23 fundraiser.

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Four foot tree giveaway on the 29th of April - Register now the supply is limited

By Staff

March 31st, 2023

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The City of Burlington and BurlingtonGreen are hosting Earth Day activities at various locations throughout the city.

More trees – less flooding

Earth Day Tree Planting Event
In partnership with BurlingtonGreen, a tree planting event will take place at Millcroft Park, April 22 starting at 9:30 a.m., rain or shine. Advance registration at burlingtongreen.org is required. Space is limited.

Celebrate Earth Day with BurlingtonGreen
Residents can visit the BurlingtonGreen Eco-Hub at Burlington Beach Saturday, April 22 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. where a variety of fun and family-friendly eco-activities will be taking place: pollinator seed ball making, cycling resources and giveaways, a guided tree walk, shoreline clean up, a repair café and a -bike raffle opportunity.

Tree Giveaway
The City of Burlington is giving away 500 trees to residents. To receive a free, four-to-five-foot tree, you must register in advance and have a vehicle able to safely transport the tree. There are several types of trees available. Quantities and types are limited.

Date: Saturday, April 29, 2023
Time: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pick up time is dependent on the species selected.

Location: Roads, Parks and Forestry Operation Centre Parking Lot, 897 Cumberland Ave., Burlington

Registration is open now until April 18, 2023. To register for a tree, go to Get Involved Burlington. Quantities and tree species are limited. Click HERE to Register

Gloria Reid: Not just a member of the Board – she gets right in there with the 15,000 people they want to help CleanUp and GreenUp

BurlingtonGreen’s Annual Clean Up Green Up
Celebrating their 15-year anniversary, BurlingtonGreen is aiming to see 15,000 people participate in their annual Clean Up Green Up this year. Residents, schools, groups and businesses are invited to be a part of this city-wide event cleaning up litter from Burlington’s parks, school yards and neighbourhoods.

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Team Logue will be using a White and Navy Blue theme for their Tree at the Performing Arts Centre

By Katelyn Goodwin

December 6th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Real estate service Team Logue is one of this year’s tree sponsors for the 6th annual Festival of Trees taking place at The Burlington Performing Arts Centre through to December 17th.

Makayla, the staff member I spoke to, explained that  Team Logue is a community based real estate service company with an ‘outside the box’ approach offering expertise in Burlington, Milton, Oakville, and the surrounding areas-mainly the Millcroft area.

They have been involved in community-based events before, and Makayla told me this was another great opportunity for them to contribute to another.

This is their first year sponsoring and decorating a tree. The company decided to decorate a tree to be part of getting people into the spirit this holiday season.

Sarah Logue is the broker of record and a huge lover of the Christmas season.  The group decorating the tree have yet to decide quite what they want to do in terms of decorations; they do know that the theme will be white and navy to go with Logue’s brand colours.

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Klein: elections 'allow the community through candidacies and investigations, to bring areas for improvement to light. 

By Daintry Klein

October 25th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

OPINION

First, Congratulations to the entire Council for achieving re-election. Their work on the challenges of the pandemic and their extensive initiatives and policies which set a framework for our great City should be commended. The continuation of this Council allows them to own their plans and initiatives.

The benefits of an election, whether it is status quo or not, allows the community through candidacies and investigations, to bring areas for improvement to light.

Perhaps the seclusion of the pandemic contributed to the issues surrounding transparency, but we have heard the Mayor commit to improvements highlighted in the Aird & Berlis report.

The Millcroft residents want to keep the community that was created and not change the layout of the golf course and tamper with the storm water management system that is in place.

The return to in-person meetings will also facilitate more genuine discussion.

The benefits of an election, whether it is status quo or not, allows the community through candidacies and investigations, to bring areas for improvement to light.  Perhaps the seclusion of the pandemic contributed to the issues surrounding transparency, but we have heard the Mayor commit to improvements highlighted in the Aird & Berlis report.  The return to in-person meetings will also facilitate more genuine discussion.  Millcroft Greenspace Alliance looks forward to collaborating with the Council to contribute ideas and possible solutions to keep Burlington as the best City in Canada.

In the Municipal government, there is no “opposition party” which highlights the importance of engaged taxpayer Citizens and independent press to provide the forum for accountability.

The Gazette asked a number of people to comment on the 2022 election. Daintry Klein is part of the Millcroft Greenspace Alliance that wants to ensure that the Millcroft community does not have to experience changes that will alter the original design or tamper with the storm water management system in place. 

 

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Seniors turn our to vote at the Advance Polls - respectable numbers

By Katelyn Goodwin

October 19th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Yesterday I concentrated my Man on the Street interviewing outside two of the Advance polls: Tansley Wood and the Appleby Ice Centre

I then covered the plaza a short block away from Tansley Woods Centre.

There was a short line up at Tansley, at Appleby people were able to just walk in.

My count at both locations was something more than 200 people.

I noted the ward the person lived in, an approximation of their age and what there issues were.

Except for one young couple the people I interviewed were all 60 and over.

Their comments went like this:

Ward #6
Female
80s
This lady’s main ward concern is the Millcroft and golf course development. She and other residents in the area are against it, but it continues to be built.
Her main city concern is housing and the price of it

Ward #6
Male, Female
70s-80s
This couple’s main ward concern is the Milcroft development. The man says they have neighbours that will be affected by the golf course being developed. He also noted there were elderly people in the neighbourhood that will be affected by the golf course development in general.
Their city concern is overdevelopment of buildings

Ward #5
Male, Female
70s
Their main concern in their ward is the safety of residents, and the number of wild animals such as foxes or coyotes they have seen around

Ward #5
Male
20s
This young man didn’t have too many city or ward concerns other than transportation and getting around in general

Ward #5
Male, Female
60s
This couple’s main ward concern was the condo development; they feel the amount of them being built is getting to be a bit much
Their main city concern is overdevelopment of buildings and how they are taking away from the environment. The man noted he liked how the city used to have a good amount of space between houses with a lot of grass/fields before high rises and condos began going up in those spaces.

Ward #6
Male, Female
70s
This couple’s ward concern is the development of the golf course
Their main city concern is overdevelopment. Especially the overdevelopment that doesn’t ‘jive’ with the green or environmental spaces in the city. The woman noted the less amount of green in the city compared to what it once was.

Ward #5
Female
70s
This lady’s ward concern is the high-rise they are trying to put up on the corner of Appleby where seniors who are already paying a lot for housing are. It will cause a gas station there to be taken down and it is a station a lot of seniors in the area use, including a couple of her neighbours.
Her city concern is the overdevelopment of buildings and the condos going up everywhere.

Ward #6
Female, Male
70s
This couple’s ward concern is the Milcroft development. They are against it as are other residents in the area as it will affect many people living there.
Their city concern is the slowness of delivery at city hall when applying for city related services as well as the money being paid for said services

Ward #5
Male
60s
This man’s city concern was the number of tall buildings going up everywhere and overdevelopment in general

Ward #5
Female, Male
60s
This couple shared a one-time event that happened in their neighbourhood. Someone was illegally owning a breed of Pit bull dog while possibly being involved in other illegal activity involving the breeding of dogs which caused a commotion involving assault weapons when word got out though thankfully nobody was killed or injured. They wished people in the neighbourhood had been notified sooner rather than later by authorities for safety reasons. Especially when taking in the children who live in the neighbourhood.

Other than that incident they have issues with coyote sightings and people letting their dogs off leashes in places where they shouldn’t such as sidewalks or streets. Anywhere besides parks.
For their city concern, while they were pleased with what happened with the waterfront, they don’t want too much overdevelopment not unlike many other city residents.

Ward #6
Female
70s
Her main ward concern is healthcare and affordable housing for the elderly
Her city concern is that she believes more roads need to be paved, especially with the development of buildings with the lack of streets to support them

Ward #6
Male, Female
70s/80s
This couple’s ward concern was the reliability of the services in the ward such as stores, gas stations, etc. and that the area is getting busier.
Their city concern is density, construction, and traffic

Ward #6
Male
80s
This man’s ward concern was the housing for seniors-he says there isn’t enough, and it isn’t affordable for everyone
His city concern is density and the number of high-rises going up

Ward #2
Female, Male
70s/80s
This couple just moved into the city and doesn’t have any immediate concerns thus far, though they did do enough research to vote in the municipal election

Ward #6
Male, Female
80s
This couple’s ward concern was the amount of busy traffic
Their city concern was how busy it is on both Appleby and Guelph line. The lady believed they weren’t the best streets for pedestrians in terms of crosswalks either because of that business.

What was clear was that people were getting out to vote.  Seniors have always been voters in Burlington.  Where those votes go will be evident Monday night.

Katelyn Goodwin is a graduating student at Sheridan College.

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'Just the Facts' during Fire Prevention Week, October 8 to 15, 2022

By Staff

October 5th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Fire Prevention Week is October 8th to 15th, 2022

The Burlington Fire Department is going to be

One big fact for the fire department is the importance of working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms at Canadian Tire, 2070 Appleby Line

The Fire Department will be at Canadian Tire (Millcroft Plaza, 2070 Appleby Line) throughout the week to help provide education and awareness about smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms. Members of the Fire Department will be in the store to answer questions and help shoppers pick the alarm that is best suited to their home.

The Fire department does a superb job of getting out to the community and telling their story.

A fire truck will also be outside of the store for photos and tours (unless called for duty).

  • Saturday, Oct. 8, 10 a.m. to noon
  • Wednesday, Oct. 12, 4 to 6 p.m.
  • Saturday, Oct. 15, 10 a.m. to noon

Burlington Public Library Firefighter Story Time

The Fire Department will be doing a story time at select Burlington Public Library branches. Members will be reading “No Dragons for Tea” to kids and available to answer any questions about fire safety or about being a Firefighter.

New Appleby Branch, 676 Appleby Line at 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., followed by truck tour from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

3040, Alton Village Branch, Tim Dobbie Dr. at 10:30 till 11:30 a.m. followed by truck tour 11:30 a.m. till 12:30 p.m.

While the Alton Branch has lots of seating space, New Appleby is smaller, so please arrive early if you’d like to ensure a spot.

“Just the Facts”

  • Carbon monoxide alarms in every bedroom

    Essential in every home – you are required to have one.

    The largest percentage of fire deaths in the home occurs at night while people are sleeping. Working smoke alarms provide early warning and time to escape.

  • Every home must have working smoke alarms on every level and outside all sleeping areas. It’s the law.
  • Carbon Monoxide (CO) is the number one cause of accidental poisoning deaths in North America. CO alarms must be installed outside each sleeping area in all homes with fuel-burning appliances or heating systems, fireplaces, or attached garages.
  • Smoke and Carbon Monoxide alarms expire after 10 years.
  • Fires can double in size every minute. Having a home fire escape plan is one of the most important things you can do for your family.
  • The Fire Department is here to help. Call us at 905-637-8207 or email firedepartment@burlington.ca your questions.

 

Fire Chief Karen Roche accepting cookies.

Karen Roche, Burlington Fire Chief

“I can’t stress enough the importance of having working alarms and checking them regularly and replacing their batteries twice a year. Fires grow quickly so you need all the time you can get, to get out of the house before your escape routes become blocked. Check your alarms and practice your escape plans. Please, call the non-emergency line if you have questions; we’re more than happy to help.”

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Nominees for Wards 4, 5 and 6 City Council seats

By Pepper Parr

August 21st, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

This review of the candidates who filed nomination papers is being done in three parts.  Those running in wards 1, 2 and 3 have been published.  This article covers wards 4, 5 and 6.  The third will cover the candidate running for Mayor.

Ward 4

Tony Brecknock candidate for the ward 3 council seat. OUNCIL SEAT

Tony Brecknock
Phone: 905-334-8118
Email: tony@brecknock.com
Website: brecknock.com

The Gazette has yet to interview Tony Brecknock.  Basically due to scheduling issues.   He was active in the decision the Halton District School Board made to close two of the city’s seven high schools.

Olivia Duke candidate for the ward 4 Council seat.

Olivia Duke
Phone: 416-320-8843
Email: olivia@oliviaduke.ca
Website: oliviaduke.ca

Our attempts at meeting with Olivia Duke have not gotten us very far.  She has been actively campaigning.

Shawna Stolte, ward 4 incumbent

Shawna Stolte
Email: stolte4ward4@gmail.com
Website: https://stolte4ward4.ca

Shawna is the ward 4 incumbent.  She has had her issues with the Integrity Commissioner and had her run ins with the Mayor as well. During what can only be called a ‘sparring’ match during a Council meeting Stolte made it very clear she knew how to stick to a principled position while the Mayor made it equally clear that she could use and abuse the power the Mayor has to amend an agenda to suit her personal agenda.  That sorry spectacle is HERE for viewing, if you haven’t already seen it.

Stolte has served the interests of her constituents very well and brought about changes in the way council processes and proceeds with its business.  Some were small, other quite significant.

Eden Wood
Phone: 905-630-4949
Email: vote.edenwood@gmail.com
Website: https://edenwoodward4.ca/

We have yet to meet Ms Wood.  Most of the first time candidates needed additional time to get their web sites operational.

Ward 5

The number of candidates that came out of the blue on the second to last day that nominations were open flooded ward 5  And probably stunned the incumbent who most people thought was going to be acclaimed.  Paul Sharman is now in a race.

We have no detail on any of the candidates listed below.  We will reach out to each of them and learn what wee can.  The first question that pops into our minds is this:  Was it pure coincidence that three people with very little in the way of a public profile all filed their papers on the same day?  Journalists don’t believe in coincidences

Guy D’Alesio
Phone: 905-483-5093
Email: guydalesio@gmail.com

Andrew Hall
Phone: 289-962-2862
Email: hello@andrewhallburlington.com

Denny Pirzas
Phone: 905-484-0105
Email: pirzasdenny@gmail.com

Paul Sharman, ward 5 incumbent

Paul Sharman
Phone: 905-320-7467
Email: paul@paulsharman.ca
Website: paulsharman.ca

Paul Sharman burst on the political scene in the 2010 election when he filed nomination papers for the Office of Mayor.  Shortly after that Rick Goldring, who was the Council member for ward 5 also filed papers to run for the Office of Mayor.

Sharman almost immediately withdrew his nomination for Mayor and filed to run as the ward Councillor.

Both Sharman and Goldring won the race they ran in.

Sharman was a member of the Group that put together the Shape Burlington report that set out what people were unhappy about with city hall. One might ask Sharman if what he was a part in 2020 has had an impact on the way city hall works with its citizens.

Sharman went on to become a very different member of Council.  He brought significant private sector experience to the job and a mind that could never get enough data.

He was described by Goldring as one of the best strategic minds that Gold rind had seen.

Many thought Sharman would run for Mayor this time.  It was never really something he wanted to be.   He chose not to and while he didn’t assume he was going to be acclaimed we don’t think he expected three people the public knew very little about to run against him.

He has been a useful member of Council forcing his colleagues to look at significant financial issues in a different light.

.Ward 6

Angelo Bentivegna, ward 6 incumbent

Angelo Bentivegna
Phone: 905-973-6923
Email: angelo.bentivegna@gmail.com

Angelo Bentivegna is the incumbent.  He defeated Councillor Blair Lancaster by less the 50 votes in 2018 and has worked hard to gain a stronger foothold in the ward.  His command and grasp of many of the issues that come before council is at times limited.  He has positioned himself as the Councillor who cares about what taxpayers have to deal with.

He is very strong when working a room – a lot of bonhomie to the man.

Rick Greenspoon
Phone: 905-466-4449
Email: greenspoonrick@gmail.com
Website: https://www.rickgreenspoon.com

Rick Greenspoon has up until this point in his working life been the man behind the scenes making things work better and getting the job done.

He has a clear idea of what he thinks can be done and is out on the streets doing the door to door work that is essential

Many ward 6 residents in the Millcroft area have a significant issue with the plans Argo Developments have for the  the changes it would make with the golf course the community was built around.

Greenspoon appears to have made some deep inroads and been able to capitalize on the disappointment those people have with the incumbent.

Renato Velocci
Phone: 905-802-8808
Email: rvelocci01@gmail.com

We do know that Renato Velocci once ran against Linda Pugley for a council seat many years ago.

List of candidates for wards 1,2 and 3

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Is this what the next city council will look like ?

By Pepper Parr

August 9th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

OPINION

In ten days we will know who the candidates for city council are going to be and have a pretty good idea what the next council is going to look like as well.

Kelvin Galbraith: Could be in trouble

Ward 1 was a given.  Kelvin Galbraith has a high school teacher campaigning against him thinking that he can continue as a high school teacher and serve as a council member at the same time.

There appears to be a change. Robert Radway now realizes that he can get a leave of absence from the Board of Education but that will not apply to his first year as a Councillor. Radway said he has a plan in place that will allow him to perhaps do some teaching and still serve as a member of Council.

Lisa Kearns: Probably has the finest mind on this council – needs to work on some issues.

Lisa Kearns should prevail in ward 2 – candidates do keep coming out of the wood work but Kearns has earned the right to a second term.  A real race for the seat will test Kearns in a way that will make her very uncomfortable but she will be better for it.

Rory Nisan has proven to be a disappointment for many – apparently not those working with him for re-election and certainly not for the Mayor.  She now has a new lap dog.

Rory Nisan: biggest disappointment

Jennifer Hounslow has a chance but she is pushing a rock up a hill – but Councillors that disappoint consistently do lose.   and on that level Rory Nisan has proven to be a disappointment.  The Gazette supported Nisan in 2018 – mentored him a little, urged him to get a copy of the Procedural bylaw and know it well.  He certainly did that – took a complaint to the Integrity Commissioner that found Stolte had broken a rule.

Shawna Stolte should retain her seat.  There are those who have issues with the Integrity Commissioners reports and the sanctions they handed out – the Gazette will comment on just what that is all about in the near future.

Paul Sharman will be acclaimed in ward 5.

Angelo Bentivegna faces a stiff contender.  His less than 50 seat plurality in 2018 and the serious dissatisfaction on the part of a lot of people in Millcroft over the attempts to build on golf course land have not helped.

Rick Greenspoon has his work cut out for him but he seems more than able to take the seat.

While there are many that don’t like what Mayor Meed Ward has delivered – Anne Marsden just does not have what it takes to be a Mayor.

What she might manage to do is significantly reduce the Meed Ward vote enough to smarten up Marianne.

These are the people you elected in 2018. Time to think about how many you want to serve you again.

So what will that deliver?

Meed Ward as Mayor

Galbraith in ward 1

Kearns in ward 2

Ward 3 could be a surprise

Stolte in Ward 4

Sharman in ward 5

Greenspoon in ward 6

We might want to revise these suggestions after nominations close.

In the weeks ahead we will interview and spend time with each of the candidates.

The options will be clearer on the 19th which is when nominations close.

There is a hope out there that Kimberly Calderbank will take a run at the Office of Mayor.  Calderbank  is a strong strategist and there are some very respectable people who will support her.

The process of filing a nomination is cluttered – you have to make an appointment with the city Clerk.  Should Calderbank file papers the news will have been flashed to the Mayor before the ink is dry on her papers.

Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.

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St. Christopher's kicks off drive for back pack donations

By Staff

August 5th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Open Doors at St. Christopher’s is kicking off their yearly backpack program in partnership with Food4Kids Halton, Compassion Society and Burlington Together.

What in heavens name do they put in those back packs? Do they carry that many books?

The backpack program provides new backpacks and supplies to students from JK to grade 12 to help Burlington families reduce the financial strain of back-to-school season.

Beth Martin, Resource and Communications Coordinator at Open Doors.

“This year, we are aiming to be able to support 300 students with new backpacks that include hygiene products and high-quality supplies,” said Beth Martin, Resource and Communications Coordinator at Open Doors.

“Because our focus is on the more expensive – but necessary – items like reusable lunch bags, metal water bottles and scientific calculators, we are asking the community to support if they can by donating to the program.

We would be thrilled to receive a fully-packed backpack, but are also very happy to receive donations of individual supplies.

Every little bit helps set students up for success.”

Open Doors is most in need of new, high-quality backpacks for JK – grade 12 students, hygiene products and high-quality reusable water and lunch containers. Grade-level shopping lists, posters and up-to-date info can be found on the Open Doors website at opendoorscommunity.ca/backpacks.

Donations can be dropped off throughout Burlington at St. Christopher’s Anglican Church, Sims Square, Rocca Sisters Team offices, Chickadee Kids Company and Happy Beginnings Daycare.

Drop off locations are constantly being added, so please check the interactive map on the website for a location near you.

Additionally, Open Doors is partnered with Rocca Sisters to ensure donations can be made on Saturday, August 13th at any of the three Kids’ Fest locations – Brant Hills Park, Cumberland Park and Millcroft Park.

The last day for donations is Sunday, August 14th. Find up-to-date information on the program at www.opendoorscommunity.ca/backpacks

 

 

 

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Kid's Mini Fest - August 13th at three different city parks

By Staff

July 30th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

There a number of commercial organizations in Burlington that go out of their way to give back to the city in which they do business.  Of course the events they sponsor keep their name in the public eye with a favourable view.

Nothing wrong with that and we congratulate those that see their role as working with the public to make Burlington a better place.

A fun example of this Giving Back is:

THE ROCCA SISTERS PRESENT – KIDS MINI FEST!

Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022 – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

At three locations:
Brant Hills Park (2255 Brant St.)
Cumberland Park (562 Cumberland Ave.)
Millcroft Park (4520 Millcroft Park Dr.)

 

Great picture!

 

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Ward six now has a race: Bentivegna, who won by less than 50 votes in 2018 will face Rick Greenspoon

By Pepper Parr

July 25th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Rick Greenspoon’s trip to city hall to file his nomination papers took a circuitous route.

Rick Greenspoon: “It was Shawna Stolte who got me involved in the politics of the city”

When he learned that ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stole had said she was thinking hard about not running again, (she quickly recanted that comment – gave some thought to running for Mayor and decided that she would run for re-election after all) Greenspoon met with Stolte and let her know that was interested in running in ward 4.

When he learned that Stolte was in the race to retain her Council Greenspoon decided he would run in ward six. His residence in one block away from the ward 6 border.

“It was Shawna Stolte who got me involved in the politics of the city” said Greenspoon.

Stolte was working with Millcroft residents who were battling an attempt by a developer to turn some of the golf links into housing – there are two groups: one, Millcroft Greenspace Alliance, is fighting the Argo plans to develop some of the land that was part of the golf course the community was built around.  The other group, MAD – Millcroft Against Development will be meeting with Greenspoon later this week.

The Alliance was not happy with what the current Council member, Angelo Bentivegna, was doing for them, and by extension the Mayor who had aligned herself with Bentivegna, and were looking around for someone who might do a better job for them.

Stolte mentioned Greenspoon to them – and thus a candidate was born. The connector in this was Dainty Klein – she and Greenspoon spent two and a half hours in conversation – Rick left that meeting knowing he was going to be running in ward 6

Rick Greenspoon: had a retail operation in what was then the Burlington Mall.

So who is this guy?

Originally a Montrealer, fluently bilingual, Graduated with a degree from what was then Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) from the Health Sciences faculty.

Rick moved to Burlington when his employer transferred him to the city. A transfer returning him to Montreal didn’t come about – which worked for Greenspoon – he came to love the city.

Back in the 80’s when he had a retail operation in what was then the Burlington Mall he and some of the other retailers in the city petitioned council for changes in the hours retailers could operate.

In those days stores were open Monday to Thursday and Saturday until 6:00 pm. Open until 9:00 pm on Friday.

Chance came his way and Greenspoon left retail and has spent the last 34 years in the automotive field where he operates an automotive brokerage business in Burlington.

He also served as a vice president with The Magic of Metals Children’s Foundation and worked with others to channel the foundations charitable donations into the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada. Before the group closed things – they were getting older and the charitable sector was undergoing a change they raised over $2,900,000.00. Most of the donations came from the servicing sector of the steel industry.

Greenspoon spent over 20 years in minor hockey with both the Ontario Minor Hockey Association and the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario as a referee, a supervisor and instructor.

The campaign literature – side 1

Played hockey with the Old Timers, realized his physical limitations and now referees some of their games.

He has been an active participant in the Sound of Music.

The first thing Greenspoon made clear to me during a lengthy interview is that he was seldom the #1 person in the many organizations he has been involved in. “I am very comfortable and prefer to work in the background to bring about changes.”

He and his wife Louise raised two daughters who got into soccer and when they completed their educations they moved into the  medical services sector; they are not campaigning  – yet.

One of his daughters posted on her Facebook page: Mt Dad does more that talk the talk – he walks the walk.

Greenspoon has learned that there is a lot more to municipal politics than he at first realized. There are many issues he has yet to decide just where he stands – he has a lot of reading to do in the next few weeks. It will be interesting to hear how he worked his way through some of the 1000 page plus consultant reports.

Greenspoon is not yet doing the door to door thing and his web site is a work in progress. He does have a single piece of literature that he hands out.

Rick Greenspoon: approach to a problem is to find a way towards a solution.

He is bothered by the sense of apathy he is experiencing and has yet to find a campaign manager.

Is he up to speed on the major issues? Not quite – he has yet to look at a budget document – that will be a bit of a shock once he starts going through the pages.

Parkland dedication issues – not read that document yet either.

But there is a deliberateness to Rick Greenspoon. He listens, gives you a pretty straight from the shoulder answer – if he doesn’t know he will tell you he doesn’t know.

His approach to a problem is to find a way towards a solution. The answer is not always obvious but Greenspoon believes there is always a way.

“When people say you can’t do that” Greenspoon first asks – “Why?”

On the affordable housing issue Greenspoon can only say “we have to do something.”

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Sports Field Closures for May 16

By Staff

May 16th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The following sports fields are closed today (May 16) due to wet and unplayable conditions:

  • Nelson D1 – Casey Cosgrove
  • Millcroft – D1, D2 and D3
  • Ireland – D1, D2, D3 and D4
  • Maple D1 and D2
  • Central D1 and D2

All other fields are open.

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Ukrainian Community Celebrates the Easter Service in Burlington with an adopted parish in Bakhmut

By Denis Gibbons

April 26th, 2022

BURLINGTON, ON

 

A strong connection already established between parishioners of Holy Protection Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church and their brothers and sisters in Ukraine has enhanced the transfer of aid to refugees and victims of war.

The Burlington church adopted another parish in the city of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, as a sister city shortly after Russian troops crossed the border there in the summer of 2014 and eventually annexed Donetsk.

Heavy fighting has been reported in the area recently.

Since the war started on February 24, slightly used and new clothing has been packaged along with dry food, toiletries, first aid items etc. to make life a little easier for them.

Father Zenon Walnycky leads in prayer, along with Deacon Danylo Dudar and altar servers attired in blue.   Photo by DENIS GIBBONS

Volunteers gathered in the parish hall on Pine Street on Easter Weekend and another drive was held in Millcroft Park on Sunday, which was Easter for those of the Ukrainian right. As a result, dry goods, sleeping bags, medical supplies etc. will be shipped to the front lines in Ukraine.

“I’ve been doing fundraising ever since I moved to Aldershot in 2007 and I’m overwhelmed with the generosity of Burlingtonians,” said Lida Pichocki, one of the volunteers. “It’s amazing to see that people are standing with Ukraine and that they care.”

Pichocki’s brother Stephen, who is in charge of the local Tyrsa Ukrainian Dance Troupe, said his dancers will perform at a special Concert for Ukraine at St. Christopher’s Anglican Church Saturday, May 14 from 2 to 4 p.m.

Tenor Jeff Madden is also on the card, accompanied by pianist Andrea Battista, as well as bandura players and a special Ukrainian song performed by three Ukrainian refugee children, who recently arrived in Burlington.

Iryna Demchuk, who fled Ukraine after the war started, accepts some Easter eggs from an altar server.   Photo by DENIS GIBBONS

Iryna Demchuk, another refugee, left her hometown of Zbarazh in Western Ukraine in March and eventually made her way to Burlington at the invitation of her cousin Stefanie MacArthur and her husband John.

It took her more than 10 hours to travel by bus past the large Ukrainian city of Lviv to Warsaw, the capital of Poland, where she stayed for three weeks with the help of friends before obtaining a visa to come to Canada.

“I want the war to stop as soon as possible,” Demchuk said. “I want our family to be together.

“I saw the eyes of a man who took his wife and children to the Polish border and then had to come back. It was very painful.”

Naturally, Demchuk misses her husband and would like to go back home when it is safe. But for now she will volunteer with the church to help Ukrainian refugees and those still back in the country in any way she can.

Late in the evening on April 5, the noisy sounds of four Russian winged missiles were heard flying over the region near Zbarazh.

Luckily three were destroyed by Ukrainian air defence equipment and the fourth was damaged, preventing it from reaching its target, believed to be civil infrastructure in the western part of the country.

Demchuk, who works as a foreign economic activity specialist for the town council of Zbarazh, left at the urging of her husband Volodymyr, an architect who must stay to provide support to Ukrainian military forces because he is 41 and they have no children.

Lviv, located only two hours from the Polish border, has mostly been spared from damage, although 35 people were killed on March 13 when Russian missiles targeted a Ukrainian military base about 40 miles to the northwest.

Father Zenon Walnycky blesses an Easter food basket with the assistance of Deacon Danylo Dudar.      Photo by DENIS GIBBONS

Later five Russian rocket attacks hit the city’s civilian infrastructure.

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State of the City: Mayor Meed Ward sets out what she and her council did and where the growth will take place in 2022

2022 Mayor’s State of the City:

Mayor Marianne Meed Ward
State of the City 2022
January 27, 2022
Full Speech Transcript

Welcome everyone and thank you for joining us today for the 2022 State of the City address.

While I was genuinely looking forward to being together in person this year, I am grateful we could come together virtually and safely as we deal with the constant shift and flexibility required in these unique times we live in.

The Burlington Chamber of Commerce has once again found a way to carry on this local tradition and allowed me the opportunity to share important information with our community about where we are at and where we are going here in the great City of Burlington.

I want to thank the Chamber and today’s sponsors for bringing this event to life and for making it free to everyone this year. It takes a lot of hard work behind the scenes and I know our entire community appreciates it. Thank you.

I also want to note that today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and in honour of that, our Burlington Pier will be lit yellow to make this important day one of reflection and remembrance.

THE YEAR 2022

Focusing for a moment on the year that just passed and the many challenges we have collectively faced both here in Burlington and around the world, it is tremendously important to take the time to appreciate those who kept us safe, healthy and supported.

Our essential workers in healthcare, police, fire and emergency services, long-term care, education and front-line retail who we could not have survived without.

Our generous and compassionate community support groups, such as food banks and mental health resources, and the volunteers and donors who keep them going.

The public servants and city staff who not only kept plowing snowy roads and maintaining busy parks but also launched and ran extremely successful vaccination clinics.

Business owners across the city who demonstrated remarkable resilience and flexibility in the face of a constantly shifting landscape and all the residents who did everything they could to shop local and help keep them going.

And our city partners who never rested in finding ways to support our business community with advocacy, funding, personal protection equipment (PPE) and rapid tests, such as the Chamber, Burlington Economic Development and our local BIAs.

I often say one of the silver linings of the past two years has been seeing the way people and organizations have come together and collaborated like never before with the shared goal of supporting our community. The strength of these relationships will carry forward for many years and we are absolutely a better city for it.

One of the most important things we can do right now is focus on the good – and gratitude is a big part of that. Never underestimate how much a simple text or email with a few kind words could mean right now. It makes all the difference and I speak from a lot of personal experience here.

So, as we embark further into 2022, I encourage everyone to take the time each day to recognize the people who are filling our buckets with positive energy and good ideas, with notes of kindness and support, and with the hard work and flexibility that continue to help get us through difficult times.

AGENDA FOR SOTC ADDRESS

Burlington City Council – including myself as Mayor – had an ambitious to-do list when we took office more than three years ago. Working closely with city leadership and staff, we hit the ground running in 2019 and — despite a global pandemic — the business of the city has forged ahead.

I want to give you an update on where we are at in delivering on those commitments. I want to note that as I speak to that and share some photos of what we have done throughout this term so far, if you see any photos where we are close together and unmasked, be assured that those were taken early in the term as council and I have been very cognizant of all the pandemic protocols that have evolved since March 2020.

As is often the case, many new priorities also came to light since we took office, and I will fill you in on how those that have been incorporated into our mandate.

And as we approach the fourth year of this term, I want to share where we are headed looking forward. Brighter days and exciting projects are ahead as we support the continued evolution of this amazing city.

GROWTH IN BURLINGTON

In 2018, our community made it clear that their No. 1 concern was ensuring growth was better managed in Burlington. People wanted us to put a stop to the excessive heights and density of new buildings that were being approved — especially in our downtown core — and preserve the history, character and small-town feel that makes our city so wonderful. People told us they wanted greenspaces protected – and more of them created with new builds – that transit needed to be prioritized to help mitigate growing traffic congestion, and that neighborhood amenities and community centres had to be a priority.

Council and I heard these voices loud and clear and committed to better manage the trend we were seeing in overdevelopment going forward. And I want to very clearly say that mitigating overdevelopment and working towards responsible development are not the same thing as being “anti-development”.

I know there are some folks who wish we didn’t have to grow much at all and I want to talk a little bit about that.

In the past few years, I find more and more people I talk aren’t fully aware that Burlington and Halton do need to keep growing for the benefit of our city and region.

The Province of Ontario sets growth targets for each municipality – these are mandatory growth targets – and we will be expected to accommodate more than 70,000 new people in the next 30 years. That’s a lot of people. Our neighbours in Oakville and Milton are expected to take even more than that.

And why wouldn’t people want to live here? Burlington is an amazing place to work and play, and it is no surprise people continue to want to come here and raise a family. I know many of us also want our grown children to be able to afford to stay here and build their own families here too.

So we will grow – but the bottom line is as our city continues to evolve, future growth and development in the City of Burlington will happen in the right places and at the right scales to better reflect the vision of the community — and this change is the success I am most proud of in this term of council.

RIGHT PLACE. RIGHT SCALE. RIGHT VISION.

The way we are achieving this is two-fold.

One way has been to update our Official Plan to better reflect the ways we want to grow, and that includes heights and densities, and amenities and greenspace — and the other has been to remove a key obstacle that was consistently allowing overdevelopment to continue unabated by provincial land tribunal decisions and that was to adjust our Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) and Urban Growth Centre (UGC) designations and put them where they truly belong: near mass transit.

Council and I wasted no time after taking office and enacted an Interim Control Bylaw in early 2019 to pause development while the appropriate work could be done to assess the role and function of the downtown John Street bus terminal and the Burlington GO station on Fairview Street as Major Transit Station Areas, examine the planning structure, land-use mix and intensity for the lands identified in the study area, and update the Official Plan and Zoning bylaw regulations as needed for the lands identified in the study area.

After this work was dutifully completed by staff and in concert with external consultants, and with many opportunities for public input and feedback, we proposed and were successful in obtaining approval by the Province to adjust the boundaries of the MTSA and UGC away from the downtown and focus on the Burlington GO station. This change was solidified in writing by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in November of 2021. That was something that had never been done before by any municipality.

While a handful of developments already in the appeal process will still require us to fight for the community’s vision at the Ontario Lands Tribunal (OLT), going forward we will be able to avoid the tribunal’s pattern in past decisions of using the MTSA and UGC to further justify excessive height and density in our downtown core.

We have many thoughtful and innovative developers who want to help us in these goals and I have spoken with many of them throughout this term of council, such as at monthly meetings with the BILD leadership team, through speaking engagements, such as the Urban Land Institute, and through 1:1 meetings with developers. We are finding ways to work together to help our community grow while still respecting the community’s vision and we will continue to do so.

City Council this term also supported establishing the Burlington Lands Partnership (BLP) as a new organizational structure with key priorities to:

  • maximize business development opportunities and advance future economic growth and job creation;
  • implement major city building projects that enhance the quality of life for all citizens; and
  • deliver an increased supply of affordable housing through proactive long-term strategies and innovative partnerships.

The BLP has already advanced the due diligence to inform the offer to purchase Robert Bateman High School and created a strategic partnership opportunity filter to be used as an analytical tool focused on due diligence to ensure consistency and rigor in evaluating opportunities for land development and partnerships in the future.

STRATEGIC GROWTH

In the past three years, we have remained a growing city, we have just been getting more strategic about it:

  • We currently have 68 active major development applications at different stages of review in our system as you can see on this development tracking map that is available on the City’s website;
  • To keep up with demand, we have already added 15+ staff to our planning and building teams to help manage that growth and help applicants get to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ much faster;
  • In 2021, we saw 1,539 building permits issued, including 69 industrial, 155 commercial, 68 single-detached dwellings, 41 townhouses and 23 apartments and condo projects; and
  • 543 new dwelling units were created here in Burlington and all this development is a staggering $468 million in construction value here in our city.

Our new Official Plan for Burlington – and our Regional Official Plan Amendment (ROPA 48) with fellow Halton partners (Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills), who have been amazing collaborators — will work to help us build complete communities and neighborhoods that accommodate growth in ways that protect established neighborhoods, create parks and greenspace to engage and thrive in, and reduce the need for cars through proximity to transit, bike and walking paths, and new community amenities.

I’m so incredibly proud of the work all our staff and council have done to get us to this point and I’m excited to see Burlington’s growth and evolution continue in ways that honour our history, preserve what we hold dear, and accommodate innovative and well-suited development for generations to come.

BUSINESS GROWTH

Despite an incredibly challenging landscape since March 2020, due to the pandemic, especially in our restaurant and service sectors, we have also seen many local businesses continue to grow and thrive — and new ones locate their businesses here in Burlington.

More than 3,000 new jobs have been created in our city so far this term (1,573 in 2019; 843 in 2020; and 849 in 2021 = 3,265 total).

When it comes to new businesses and company expansions, 220 have happened this term (100 in 2019; 55 in 2020; and 65 in 2021 = 220 total), including Tandia Financial Credit Union’s global head office; Endress & Hauser began building their new $28 million, 47,000 sq. ft. customer experience centre; Deloitte’s 36,000 sq. ft. expansion, and MNP and Aslan Technologies’ each moving forward with 20,000 sq. ft. expansions.

Brock University will be moving a campus here to our city and finally bringing our first undergraduate post-secondary education campus to Burlington (Note: DeGroote is a graduate level program – MBA and Executive Level programs only – part of McMaster) – I am excited to see how this unfolds and creates opportunities for students as well as local businesses. My work continues with this sector to attract additional post-secondary institutions.

For our rural residents and businesses, I am happy to say we are supporting (through a third-party provider) essential high-speed Internet network installation in 2022 with some funding support secured from the federal government, as well.

The Red Tape Red Carpet initiative of 2019 partnering with local business owners to identify obstacles to relocation and growth here and creating 22 actionables to implement to make things easier, including the ability to submit development applications in digital format and the creation of a new business development liaison position at City Hall to help shepherd applicants through complex projects, and the in-progress creation of a one-window service centre on the main floor of City Hall and construction for that is getting ready to start next week!

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Constituents and businesses repeatedly expressed concern they wanted a Mayor and Council who would be fiscally-responsible, keep taxes low, and ensure every dollar was spent wisely at the City.

Cities that are experiencing growth like Burlington and much of the GTA suffer increased tax pressures, as we saw in Milton, who is growing even faster than we are, with their 9% tax increase in 2019. Growth does not pay for itself, especially in the short-term. Before new taxpayers can start contributing, we have to build roads, sewers, sidewalks, parks and infrastructure.

Our community has high expectations for the levels of service we provide, as they should. This is one of the best cities in Canada to live in and our ability to deliver on essential services for our residents and businesses has to remain high.

It is important to mention the pandemic has considerably hurt the revenues of all municipalities as revenue-generating areas, such as transit and recreation programs, all saw huge declines through repeated lockdowns. Even with additional support from other levels of government, the losses were substantial.

Despite these pressures, we have continued to invest in our city and infrastructure and there have been many improvements that benefit every corner of Burlington thanks to council and staff:

BUDGET & TAXES

When comparing ourselves to other Halton municipalities, such as Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills, along with other nearby cities, like Mississauga and Hamilton, Burlington’s tax increases are reasonable and on par. They were slightly higher than the average in 2021, but in 2020 and 2019, they were slightly lower.

When looking around the province, it is useful to consider how much a homeowner pays in taxes as a percent of their home value. Here in Burlington, we have one of the lowest rates in the entire province, coming in at just 0.779% and now at 0.008% for 2022.

Our present council has maintained similarly low tax increases in our term than the previous mayor and council, who did not have a pandemic to content with nor the associated lost revenues. The two terms preceding us saw average increases in the city portion each year of 3.84%, including three years with increases over 4% and as high as 4.5%. This term of council has so far seen an average of 3.90%, including a 2.99% increase in 2019 that was the lowest increase residents had seen in 9 years.

Looking back as far as 2011, there has not been a year where the city portion of the tax increase has been lower than inflation. It is always higher. Except for this year – 2022. Inflation is well above 4% (according to the Bank of Canada) and our tax increase is 3.90%.

When combined with Region/Education, the number gets even lower. The previous mayor and council only achieved a combined tax increase lower than inflation once in two terms. We have already achieved this three times in just one term.

The 2022 budget is focused on maintaining and enhancing city services, ensuring the city’s assets are in a state of good repair, and addressing the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Burlington has established our own self-imposed debt policy limit that is half the provincial limit, at 12.5%. The city’s current limit is as at 9.3%. The Region of Halton issues debt on behalf of the local municipalities, and we continue to enjoy the Region’s AAA credit rating.

CITY’S 2021 COMMUNITY SURVEY RESULTS

Moving on to high-service levels — since 1998, the City of Burlington has regularly conducted a community survey to uncover resident satisfaction. The surveys typically happen every 2-4 years, with the most recent surveys being in 2015, 2019 and 2021. The statically-valid survey provides an important opportunity for benchmarking and to monitor progress of community measures over time. This time, for the 2021 Community Survey, 755 Burlington residents were randomly selected and interviewed using either a residential landline or cell phone number.

Overall, I’m thrilled to report the results of the survey were highly positive.

There was a rating of 95% satisfaction with the overall quality of services in the City of Burlington. This rating was an increase from 2019 and is equal to the highest satisfaction rate compared to any of the previous measurements of resident satisfaction in the last 13 years. And to get that result during the pandemic is all the more remarkable.

Services that were identified as strengths included: Fire Services, parks, sports fields, trails, festivals and events.

Of the surveyed respondents, 71% said they would support a tax increase to maintain current service levels.

Gains were made in all areas of community engagement, including having enough opportunities to provide input, the City’s ability to engage with residents, being welcoming to public opinion in decision-making, using public input in decision making and decisions made reflect the voice of the majority of residents. There were sharp increases in these areas in 2019, compared to 2015, and 2021 continues to see positive growth.

There was substantial growth of 34% of those indicating they now currently find out about city programs, services and initiatives from their ward councillor or mayor and I’m really proud that our communications have added value to our community.

When asked the open-ended question, “What is the one issue you feel should receive the greatest attention from your Mayor and members of Council?”, the most frequent responses were around growth, especially in the downtown, related to high-rises, and the implications it might have on traffic congestion/traffic lights and transportation. This was followed by affordable housing, economic development and infrastructure.

Other common issues included parks/nature/paths, public transportation, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, as well as parking management, bylaw enforcement and transit service.

THE ENVIRONMENT

During the last campaign and throughout this term, residents consistently and emphatically asked us to address the global climate crisis at a local level by protecting greenspace, trees and rural farmland, mitigating flood risk, and reducing our carbon footprint.

One of the first things this council did upon taking office was declare a Climate Emergency. What that means is that all the decisions we make are done through a climate impact lens. Whether it’s how we allocate our annual budget or the types of infrastructure we choose to build, the protection and preservation of our environment is always a driving force.

What that looks like in practice are things like the community-based Climate Action Plan that was approved at Council in April of 2020. The plan includes seven key program areas to help the community transition away from the use of fossil fuels, particularly for buildings and transportation.

Council’s workplan From Vision to Focus supports the Strategic Plan targets for city operations to be net carbon neutral by 2040 and to work towards being a net carbon neutral community.

Staff are actively involved in partnerships with the Bay Area Climate Change Office and Council, and the Halton Climate Collective.

We have partnered with the Centre for Climate Change Management at Mohawk College to develop a home energy efficiency retrofit (HERO) program that will work to reduce household carbon emissions.

We have committed to reducing the GHG emissions from City operations overall by 21% by 2024 and 100% by 2040.

We’re using renewable energy at City facilities, including solar, such as a solar wall at Fire Station No. 8, and leasing roof space for solar generation at Mainway Arena, Transit and Roads, Parks and Forestry buildings.

Work on Burlington’s Integrated Mobility Plan is now underway. The plan will be built around eight pillars that, when implemented, will result in a new era of transportation that:

  • Provides a wide range of options for getting around regardless of age, means or ability, including walking, cycling, public transit and automobiles; and
  • Uses compact modes of travel like buses, bicycles and walking to efficiently move larger number of people.

We invested an additional $100,000 in annual tree planting and protection in/since our 2019 budget to contribute to the health of our tree canopy and help mitigate the loss of trees we have seen due to the Emerald Ash Borer

We launched and are continuing to evolve the private tree bylaw to protect against unnecessary removal of large older trees or requiring fees to replace them – will be reviewing the fee structure in March, as well as the process to make it more streamlined and ensure it is not unreasonably punitive.

We established the Aldershot Quarry Community Liaison Committee to create an ongoing dialogue with transparency and environmental accountability between one of our local quarries and the city and nearby residents.

We approved a resolution that we will not open the Greenbelt for development or compromise public safety protections by setting aside the Clean Water Act, as permitted in the Province’s proposed Bill 66 Open for Business legislation. After hearing voices from across Ontario, the Province eliminated the ability to bypass legislation from the bill.

Just last month, we were notified the City of Burlington has been approved for $200,000 we applied for from the Green Municipal Fund for the initiative: City of Burlington Zero Carbon Feasibility Studies for Four City Buildings.

As a member of the Conservation Halton board, we successfully pushed back on egregious changes the Province wanted to make to strip Conservation Authorities of their power and compromise some of their revenue generating services.

Prior to COP26 in Glasgow, the City also signed on to participate in the Race to Reduce campaign recognizing the City’s target to become a net carbon zero community by 2050.

And the City is working in collaboration with a number of staff and community stakeholders to develop Climate Resilient Burlington: A Plan for Adapting to Warmer, Wetter and Wilder Weather, expected to be completed and presented to City Council later this year.

MITIGATING TRAFFIC ISSUES

With a growing city that attracts new residents and businesses, traffic congestion is an issue that council consistently hears about from our residents. We know traffic flow on major streets is a concern, as is parking and noise from loud vehicles all across the city.

Burlington City Council approved a refreshed version of the 2016 Strategic Plan in May 2021. This version keeps the strategic directions consistent. They are A City that Grows, A City that Moves, A Healthy and Greener City and An Engaging City.

To support a city that moves, we know new development needs to be focused close to major transit, that is something our successful work to move our MTSA and UGC near the GO Stations has supported.

We also know new developments, particularly high-rises, require planning that builds complete communities around them, and that means parks, community spaces, shops and amenities that don’t require getting in your car. All our work on our Official Plan and Regional Official Plan recognizes this goal and supports these types of builds going forward.

We approved free transit for children under 12 and seniors at off-peak hours Monday to Friday (Council recently made the pilot seniors’ program permanent), and free transit for low income residents who qualify for the Region’s SPLIT subsidized transit pass. Free student transit is also on the table for next term of council. We also added more buses and drivers for conventional transit, and an additional bus and driver for Handivan service to increase frequency on main routes to better align with 15-minute GO service and respond to increased demand.

Parking concerns evolved after the pandemic began with extended residential street parking becoming more essential as people worked from home, and different needs surfacing downtown where shoppers needed to do quick curbside pickups from their favourite stores. The city responded effectively by flexing the rules around both in order to better support residents and businesses across the city, and offering periods of free parking at the pandemic’s onset as well.

Traffic noise is an ongoing issue we are tackling with our partners at the Halton Regional Police Service. Their aptly named “Project Noisemaker” has used proactive enforcement and in 2020 alone the campaign saw more than 1,420 charges laid for things like having no muffler or making unnecessary noise.

We are looking at adding two Level 2 chargers and one Level 3 charger to downtown municipal lots. These are the two highest level chargers in terms of speed and will complement the existing 12 chargers we already have in the downtown which accommodate up to 24 electric vehicles. One is included in the Elgin promenade project in Lot 1 with the other two locations planned for Lot 8 and Lot 5.

Our parking sensor project is ongoing with plans to complete installations in all downtown lots by the end of 2022. The sensors will be integrated with existing lot signage to accurately display and update parking lot numbers and the amount of available spaces. More importantly, the data collected from the sensors can be utilized to inform strategy on parking requirements for new and pending construction projects. The information provided by this system will enable us to work more strategically with developers and advocate for better parking planning when new construction developments are proposed in the downtown.

Last year, Council approved 40 km/h speed limits in 13 neighbourhoods throughout the city with a focus on improving road safety in residential areas, where our most vulnerable road users are.

The city also implemented technology to better monitor traffic flow and travel times along its major corridors allowing for improved identification and response to unexpected traffic congestion.

And finally, the City is nearing completion of the development of the Integrated Mobility Plan (IMP), our 30-year transportation plan, that looks to how people will move now and into the future. The plan is heavily rooted in public consultation and we have relied on the vision and values of the community to shape an integrated mobility network that focuses on sustainability and equity, placing greater reliance on enhanced levels of transit and active transportation. This is the first-ever transportation plan for the City, and we are one of the first Ontario municipalities to apply an integrated lens to our mobility planning approach.  The IMP will be complete this summer.

So, a lot of great work being done by teams here at the City to get us moving more smoothly and keep us moving.

RESPECT AT CITY HALL

Residents throughout Burlington raised concerns for many years of not feeling heard, respected or welcome at city hall. They identified a combative, unprofessional atmosphere where they didn’t feel comfortable coming forward with concerns and ideas. They told us on the campaign trail that they expected better and this Council promised to deliver that.

We know politics means debate. It means fighting for the wants and needs of constituents. And throughout our community, not all constituents agree – so not all councillors will agree either. And that’s ok. Respectful debate is the cornerstone of democracy. We bring forth motions, we listen to the facts, we debate their merit and then we vote. We don’t need to agree, but at the end of the day, we do need to work together for the best interests of our community, and we need each person who interacts with council or city staff to feel valued, included and heard.

Since we took office in December 2018, this council has been busy. We have collectively seen more than 1,000 motions brought before us at council through the past three years — 1,022 to be exact —  and we have passed 1,006 of them – that’s 98%! Of those that passed, 91% were passed unanimously. That is proof positive that we have a council that is consistently aligned and works together to make things happen in our community.

I was also thrilled to see in the Community Survey that I mentioned a few slides back that we got an 84% performance rating for council decision-making in an open, accountable, transparent local government!

One of the best emails I got back in early 2019 was from a constituent who commented:

“The difference in how council, committees and staff work together is palpable at city hall and throughout the city. Citizens at city hall and council meetings are not only respected but are heeded. Thank you to council and staff for listening and adapting to a whole new mindset so quickly and graciously.”

One of the things I wanted to introduce when I became Mayor was to offer something new in the form of monthly 1:1’s with myself and each councillor to ensure we could connect on issues big and small, discuss ward-specific challenges and ideas, and learn what one another were working on to identify places we could work better together.

That is how projects have come about where we worked together towards shared goals or leveraged each other’s expertise, such as Councillor Kelvin Galbraith co-chairing the Red Tape Red Carpet initiative and joining the Aldershot Quarry Community Liaison Committee, Councillor Rory Nisan joining the Mayor’s Millennial Advisory Committee meetings, or Councillors Lisa Kearns and Angelo Bentivegna joining the Burlington COVID-19 Task Force – just to name a few.

Many joint meetings with constituents and community groups have happened with myself and councillors, we have done many joint newsletters regarding the proposed Millcroft development (with Councillor Bentivegna) and the Nelson Quarry (with Councillor Nisan), had a drop-in booth at the Burlington Farmer’s Market with Councillor Shawna Stolte, and put forward many joint motions at council including:

  • The 2020 COVID-19 Mask Mandate with Councillor Stolte and myself;
  • The $900K decrease to the Dec 9 budget with Councillor Stolte;
  • 2 motions related to the Official Plan with Councillor Kearns and myself;
  • Councillor Paul Sharman’s initiative to improve the budget process; and
  • Councillor Sharman’s initiative to revise the private tree bylaw that I have been happy to collaborate on.

I also revised the process for appointing annual Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs to ensure that all councillors have an equal opportunity to be chairs and take on leadership roles throughout the term.

I am proud of how this council has evolved in its first term together, many of whom were new to the role and certainly rose to the occasion during a challenging global pandemic. I see how they each share their unique strengths, experience and knowledge with one another, and how they listen to and engage with their wards. Politics in a pandemic has not been easy, and I am impressed by each of them for the resolve and resilience they have shown.

All six councillors have joined me this past year on the Burlington Matters show on YourTV Halton to highlight amazing community organizations in their wards, and I appreciate the many, many events we have all come together to attend this term, from key to the city ceremonies to flag raisings to tours of rural Burlington to indigenous community celebrations. They consistently show up for our community and I know we are united in our goal to make every person feel welcome and appreciated here.

FROM YOUR COUNCILLORS

This is a great time to share a bit of insight from each councillor with you as we look at successes and learnings so far in this term.

When I asked Councillor Kelvin Galbraith about successes that have happened in Ward 1, there were a lot that came to mind. He said that his advocacy work for the business community would be his first choice and I have to agree there.  From the Red Tape Red Carpet experience to the Burlington Economic Recovery Network advocacy work to upper levels of government, he has really etched out his place on this council as a voice for the business community. He conveyed that he is very comfortable in this role and loves everything small business as his entire career has been in self-employment and entrepreneurship. His biggest learning from our community has been how caring and giving our local Ward 1 residents can be. The St. Matthew on the Plains church group that formed organically to collect food and other donations on a regular basis when the pandemic started to help those in need is a great example of a community that cares. In addition, Partnering Aldershot is a community liaison group the has many partners, with most of them being volunteers that have formed groups to assist people with anything they need.  There is need everywhere, but from what he has seen, the Ward 1 community has responded and he is very proud to be a part of it. Looking forward he told me he is focused on completion of the MTSA work with staff as this is one of the main drivers of economic and residential growth in Ward 1.  It is very important that we get this work completed prior to many more applications being submitted.  We want these communities to be complete communities with Residential, Retail and employment all within the MTSAs. West Aldershot is in need of more retail, and food operations so we need to complete the work that requires this type of mixed use in all new applications and developments.

Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns is most proud of continuing an engaged community voice that is at the forefront of decision-making. Together she and the Ward 2 community has made many improvements that have improved the quality of life here, including large infrastructure investments, funding for businesses, traffic safety, the Urban Farm, and many local events. Her biggest learning thus far has been that Ward 2 is compassionate and resilient, and truly a community that cares for each other. Looking ahead she is focused on recovery and rebuilding of our local business community and improving control over growth management.

Councillor Rory Nisan is deservedly proud to have brought an engaging new splash pad into Ward 3 – the first one in the area. While the pandemic delayed its implementation until last year, when it was ready last summer, he expected to see kids having fun on hot days as you’d imagine – but what he didn’t expect was that the area would become a highly used social space where families would spend the whole day under a tree, bring their lunch and meet up with friends. The splash pad has become a beloved community hub that was not there before and filled a well-timed need as we all seek to come together more often outdoors. Councillor Nisan told me his biggest learning this term has been how important communication is to the community. He noted, they raise their concerns and they will listen to your response and it has been a pleasure for him to problem-solve with constituents. The year ahead for Ward 3 will see some long-awaited playground renovations and progress on the quarry application: the most important issue for many of his constituents.

Ward 4 Councillor Shawna Stolte has found her role as Chair of the Housing Strategy Working Group to be the most challenging and rewarding work undertaken thus far this term of Council.  The financial security of property values in Burlington is a comfort for many, but for our community to remain stable and healthy it is critical for us to continue to create opportunities for reasonably attainable housing for the youth, families and seniors of our community and Councillor Stolte is tremendously proud of the continued hard work being done by the Housing Strategy Working Group to this end. In addition, Councillor Stolte said she would like to take the opportunity to highlight the incredible learning she has gained from her work with newly developed neighbourhood groups such as the Shoreacres ACT Group.  The support from this group of engaged citizens for their fellow neighbours, as well as their incredible advocacy for issues in their community has been truly inspiring and Councillor Stolte looks forward in 2022 to encouraging and supporting even more neighbourhood groups around Ward 4.

Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman is rightfully proud of his work with PACE – the Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly –and their efforts to keep older adults out of hospital and long-term care homes for as long as possible at the same time as improving their quality of life. His work was recently spotlighted on CBC’s The National, showcasing this program and the Burlington pilot site at the Halton Community Housing 410 John Street community.  PACE provides 360 degree wrap-around integrated services and social programing where people live. It includes re-configured community spaces, for social engagement as well as service and primary care providers, all to keeps older adults healthier, improve their quality of life and welfare. With our growing population of older adults and the pandemic impact we know our healthcare system and LTC capacity are becoming overloaded, which will only get worse as the number of community members aged 75-yrs and older doubles in the next 20 years. This work has never been timelier and more important as it enters the critical scaling up stage so that all of us can hope for a brighter future. Amazing work by Councillor Sharman.

Ward 6 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna has worked diligently through no less than 36 meetings so far with stakeholders to help keep things moving and secure the Federal funding needed to provide long-awaited rural broadband, a journey that began in 2019 and only became more urgent due to the pandemic – and we anticipate that installation to be complete this summer. He is proud to have witnessed countless acts of kindness throughout his ward in recent years from Friday porch pick-up food drives to coat donations from local restaurants to the Salvation Army to the Music in the Streets concerts in ward 6 neighbourhoods and how neighbours have truly gotten to know each other better in these challenging times. Going forward he is focused on working with city staff to support more of these local events and small street festivals and continue supporting positive community engagement.

Our city is very fortunate to have these six committed council members on their side, working hard to ensure Burlington is strong, healthy and vibrant for everyone who lives, works and plays here.

FROM YOUR CITY MANAGER

We continue to have an experienced City Manager at the City of Burlington who is committed to collaboration and truly exemplifies integrity in Tim Commisso.

Tim and his leadership team have led city staff through this challenging pandemic and done an amazing job in keeping essential services like transit, roads and park work going while adapting to evolving pandemic guidelines and handling exponential growth in areas like building permits.

I asked Tim what the biggest accomplishment he is most proud of since stepping into this role in 2019 and he said that in his three years since returning to Burlington as City Manager and his 10th year as a City Manager overall, he is most proud of the meaningful and measurable work completed collectively by City Council and staff.  He feels very privileged to serve such a passionate and dedicated City Council whose No. 1 focus is protecting and enhancing what we most enjoy about our wonderful community.

The recent 2021 Community Survey results that I mentioned earlier says a lot for Tim. He was most impressed that: 89% rated Burlington as the Best Place to Live Overall and we had a 94% satisfaction rating with the COVID 19 City Emergency Response Overall. Across the board, Tim noted the results overall are the best since the City started conducting the community attitudes survey approximately 25 years ago and he is particularly proud of the satisfaction rating related to our COVID emergency response that is now approaching 2 years of sustained effort and commitment by both Council and staff… he calls it “living over the department store.”

He continues to be inspired by the passion of community members to see Burlington prosper and advance while preserving what is special and unique about the City – its PEOPLE (that was the No. 1 reference in the community survey Word Cloud). One focus area in particular that he is excited about is the important role the City needs to play in advancing our collective understanding and actions towards achieving reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

Looking forward in 2022, across many strategic and operational priority areas, Tim pointed out that Council and staff has another extremely “full plate” of workload items. His No. 1 priority as City Manager will remain the same…to ensure every day that City staff provide the best possible advice, including report options and recommendations, to allow Council to make the best possible decisions in the interest of the community.

EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Back to our deliverables and moving along in our agenda to issues that rose up and became essential to address as we moved through our term.

Equity, diversity and inclusion became an issue that needed ongoing attention and care. We saw the Black Lives Matter movement accelerate after the devastating death of George Floyd in the U.S and troubling deaths of minorities here in Canada involving police as well. We saw innocent Muslim lives taken in a senseless attack in London, Ontario. We saw the discoveries of thousands of unmarked graves of Indigenous children at residential schools across Canada. We saw a lot of pain and division. And we did what we could to help.

We continued our work to expand our rainbow crosswalk initiative and selected 3 new locations for the next ones to come.

We supported an art installation in support of Black Lives Matter outside of City Hall shortly after the local protest walk here in Burlington in spring of 2020. I hosted two of the organizers on my Burlington Matters show shortly after to talk more deeply about the issues they faced growing up black in our city.

Our art fund supported the Promenade of Pain REDress project to highlight missing and murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

We supported a public prayer event to support our Muslim community after the London attacks and saw hundreds of people come together in unity at Spencer Smith Park.

We lowered our flags after the unmarked graves were found at residential schools and supported the Hope for Healing art installation at civic square and Spencer Smith Park to express our shared grief, and we saw thousands turn out for the first Day of Truth and Reconciliation event this past September, including staff who are now given that day off work to spend time remembering and reflecting. We worked with the community to change the name of Ryerson Park to Sweetgrass Park.

Council unanimously signed the Halton Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Charter, committing to understanding diversity through the lens of allyship and embracing inclusion through acceptance of all residents in Halton and subsequently updated our sponsorship and naming policies to ensure they reflect that commitment.

PANDEMIC RESPONSE & RECOVERY

And how can I not mention the biggest initiative at all that we didn’t see coming – a global pandemic.

Our city – our staff – our council – our healthcare and essential workers – our teachers – our community support organizations – our government partners – and every resident and business here – all came together in this extraordinary and challenging time.

Burlington was the first municipality in Halton to declare a State of Emergency and start the work that needed to be done. We met daily for months to address urgent and evolving communication needs for our community, make timely decisions to keep people safe, and partner with people and organizations all over the city to get help to those in need.

The Burlington COVID-19 task force met regularly – 24 times now and counting – and brought together political leaders, city leadership, councillors, our hospital, food banks, business supports, hydro, library, and so many more to identify needs and come together to meet them.

All Halton Mayors and our Regional Chair began meeting biweekly to share information and coordinate our response.

The city waived fees for restaurant patios and worked to accelerate the sidewalk patio approval process.

We delayed property tax payments without penalty for our residents during the initial lockdown which cost the city $625K in revenue that stayed in people’s pockets.

The City and TEAM Burlington joined Burlington Economic Development, our Chamber of Commerce, and by forming the Burlington Economic Recovery Network to support the unique challenges our local businesses faced.

The Digital Main Street Program launched and supported hundreds of businesses pivot to online sales.

With $240,000 in support approved by city council, the Burlington Safe Restart Grant program – the first of its kind at the municipal level – helped more than 150 local businesses purchase PPE and make renovations to make their spaces safer to reopen.

TEAM Burlington also provides free rapid antigen screening tests for workplaces to help them keep their staff and customers safe and healthy.

And most importantly we partnered with our healthcare agencies across Halton Region to roll out a hugely successful vaccination program that is ongoing and evolving weekly.

We are now working towards a world where we are living with covid rather than living in lockdown.

RAISING BURLINGTON’S PROFILE

Many initiatives and relationships have taken shape and been strengthened this term that has elevated our profile locally as well as internationally.

Canadian and International journalists and fellow governments from as far away as Ghana and Korea have reached out to ask about how we do things well here in Burlington and learn from our best practices, from our COVID-19 task force to the Red Tape Red Carpet initiative to our festivals and events and our parking management programs.

I have had the privilege of speaking to audiences at the Urban Land Institute here in the GTA, at the Smart Cities Connect conference in Colorado, the Toronto Chamber of Commerce and countless local groups like our Rotary and PROBUS Clubs as well as school groups, model UN challenges and girl guides.

I am honoured to sit on the boards of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Large Urban Caucus, the rural mayors of the Top Aggregate Producing Municipalities of Ontario (TAPMO), the Small Urban GTHA Mayors, and contribute to the great work being done from the Ontario Big City Mayors (OBCM) caucus including hosting our in-person fall meeting last October. Councillor Nisan sits on the board of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) as well. Sitting at these tables ensures Burlington has a strong voice in the decisions being made that affect our community.

Advocacy work we have done through these groups has focused on topics from COVID-19 recovery funding to opposing Bill 21 in Quebec to securing more support for mental health and addictions, affordable childcare and successfully avoiding provincial budget cuts. We are most effective when we all work together and our relationships with our municipal peers have never been stronger.

Each member of council and many staff and members of the city’s leadership team also sit on countless boards and provide support and volunteer work at many charities throughout our city and this work has only intensified throughout the pandemic. It is so inspiring to be surrounded by people who are so giving of their time and energy, and committed to bettering our community and our reputation.

COMMUNITY AMENITIES

On to the last part of our agenda: Looking forward. We have exciting priorities ahead for 2022 and beyond.

One of the best things about Burlington is how active and engaged our residents are. Our sports teams are competitive and plentiful across every age group. Our arts and culture groups create music, ceramics, paintings and sculptures across the city and in classes and workshops. Our seniors gather throughout community centers and public spaces to connect, exercise and volunteer. Our libraries are brimming with avid readers and curious learners. Rotary and Probus clubs meet regularly to share ideas and intellect. Religious groups hold services and celebrations that inspire and illuminate. Our parks are full of picnics and public events through every season.

With this passion and participation comes a constant need for the spaces and places we can come together. And after the challenges of the past two years, we all know how vital this is to our physical, mental and emotional well-being.

That’s why one of my main priorities looking ahead will be to focus on creating more community spaces and amenities to bring us together. And we’ve already gotten started.

By entering a process to purchase Robert Bateman High School, we have started a journey to repurpose 212,000 square feet of space in the east end of our city, near established neighborhoods, schools and transit. We have seen how amazing this type of project can be with the QEPCCC in Oakville having been created out of a prior high school and now seeing hundreds of thousands of users per year in their woodshops, ceramics studios, performance and recording centers and public pool. With plans to potentially have Brock University expand part of their campus there, along with our TechPlace innovation hub and expand and relocate the Appleby branch of our public library network, this will be an exciting and engaging place for our entire community.

Our No. 1 priority for funding from upper-level government partners is the Skyway Community Centre and Park Reconstruction Project to expand the ice pad using more environmentally friendly materials, have warm and cold spectator seating with accessibility, create multi-use program space, add change rooms with showers/washrooms, install a walking track, and utilize a low carbon design.

We know we need to build more complete communities with engaging city amenities around all our Go Stations and we are prioritizing that while also creating a policy through the Burlington Lands Partnership to buy and repurpose all closed school sites for future community uses.

There is a lot ahead for our city and the people who live, work and play here – so please keep watching my news feeds and the city channels as well because there are exciting announcements happening often and lots of good news to share.

AFFORDABLE, ATTAINABLE HOUSING

We know that housing affordability is one of the biggest issues facing urban communities across Canada and especially in the GTA. The Canadian Real Estate Association says 2021 was the busiest year ever for Canada’s housing market, with average selling prices climbing 18% across the country.

In Burlington, the average price for a single family dwelling went from $892K in January of 2020 to over $1.3M by the end of 2021.

It is clear that prices are out of reach for many families, not to mention the next generation of home buyers – our children. The creation of attainable housing is a goal that we work toward with our partners at Halton Region – who oversee assisted and attainable housing in Burlington, Oakville, Halton Hills and Milton – as well as with our provincial and federal governments, who provide needed funding and related legislation to help make housing more affordable across the board.

We have taken the following steps to address this issue at the municipal level:

  • Burlington finally got its first homeless shelter for women and families;
  • Halton Region has created 1,005 new assisted housing opportunities since 2014 and progress continues. 92 new assisted housing opportunities were delivered in 2021 with a total investment of $15.0 million – $7.1 million funded by the Region and $7.9 million funded by the Provincial and Federal governments;
  • Halton Region is well positioned to deliver a mix of up to 600 units of purpose built rental and assisted rental housing opportunities through both capital and operational programs between 2021 and 2031, if support from senior levels of government is made available;
  • Burlington supported the Habitat for Humanity build on Queensway Drive in support of helping families ladder up into private home ownership;
  • In November of 2021, Regional Council approved a Portfolio Approach to Achieving Comprehensive Housing Strategy Objectives + the Regional Chair wrote to the Federal Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion as well as the Provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing requesting federal funding for Halton Region’s housing portfolio in order to deliver new assisted housing projects in Halton Region;
  • The City of Burlington is creating a Housing Strategy to give current and future residents more housing options across our city. In January 2021, City Council endorsed the Burlington Housing Strategy Terms of Reference, directing staff to start work on the Housing Strategy – an opportunity to develop creative and innovative solutions for housing issues in Burlington that will build on and support the Region’s Housing Strategy;
  • Council approved the Housing Needs & Opportunities Report last month which acknowledges that we consider housing a basic human right and that there is a collective responsibility to ensure that the supply of housing in a community can accommodate the varying needs of residents throughout their lifetime, including financial needs. The report also outlines policies, tools, identifies partnerships, and actions to address residents’ current and future housing needs such as authorizing inclusionary zoning or expanding permissions for where shared housing can be located;
  • And just last week I joined the Premier, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and fellow mayors from across Ontario at the Provincial Housing Summit where we agreed that for significant progress to be made, federal, provincial and municipal governments must thoroughly explore all options and use economic levers, like tax, spending and regulatory powers we well as work together to review parts of the process that could be improved such as approval timelines, streamlining processes and data collection. We plan to take full advantage of the recently announced Streamline Development Approval Fund to help us modernize, streamline and accelerate processes for managing and approving housing applications and providing status updates including getting more of those processes online and digitally-friendly.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

With Superbowl LVI just a few short weeks away, I am reminded of this quote from legendary football coach Vince Lombardi:

“Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

The past few years have been a group effort beyond what we ever could have imagined and we are fortunate to have so many superstars on the field playing for our team as you’ve heard here today.

I’ll leave you today with my heartfelt gratitude for all the ways each of you have contributed to making our city the resilient, healthy place we know and love.

Your engagement with the issues that matter, your involvement in volunteering and donating your time and money to local charities, your flexibility and resilience as healthcare workers, teachers, front line staff and business owners – all of it has added up to keeping Burlington going strong.

We will continue to recover, grow and thrive together in Burlington by staying true to the values of hard work, collaboration and kindness in the year ahead.

Thank you.

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