Ray Rivers
December 11, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The provincial Auditor General (AG) is an essential part of a system of good government. Being independent and reporting directly to the Legislative Assembly, the auditor “conducts value-for-money and financial audits of the provincial government”. The 2014 report targeted a number of areas including infrastructure, child care and energy (smart meters).
The office of the AG is not inexpensive, chewing up over $15 million dollars annually and employing about a dozen people each year. This year’s report weighed in at 600 pages, more than twice the size of the New Testament. And though the language is simpler than what we find in the Bible, there is so much redundancy and superfluous description interspersed among all the pretty graphics, that it is might also be as good a remedy for insomnia as some find in the pews of their church.
I have been involved in audit processes at both federal and provincial levels over the years. For the most part the auditors work closely with government officials, and in many cases simply regurgitate what they were told by officials – making for few surprises for the officials. That seems to be the case when this year’s report examined the processes for building infrastructure; 74 building projects were considered.
The AG noted that the “tangible costs (such as construction, financing, legal services, engineering services and project management services) were estimated to be nearly $8 billion higher than… if the projects were contracted out and managed by the public sector.” That waste of money seems logical given the complications and extra rewards required for private sector involvement.
But Infrastructure Ontario officials justified this additional expense arguing that “the risks of having the projects not being delivered on time and on budget were about five times higher if the public sector directly managed these projects.” They estimated this risk at $18.6 billion making the, so-called, alternate financing partnership a no-brainer for them. But are they really serious – five times?
Me thinks that something is rotten in the state of the Ontario public service. Not much wonder the recent billion-dollar gas plant relocation fiasco was handled so casually. Why isn’t the management at Infrastructure Ontario saying WTF, or better still doing something to change that statistic (five times the risk)?
The technology was going to let the consumer make choices.
Following the Harris/Eves government screw-up of the energy file (de-regulation and privatization), politicians jumped onto the smart meter bandwagon as a panacea for spiraling electricity costs. The AG attacks the decision-making process and much of her criticism centres on a cost-benefit feasibility study performed, after-the-fact. Imaginary numbers (guesstimates) lie at the heart of her criticism.
They were going to change the way we used electricity.
In addition, she fairly critiques the lack of oversight on implementation, accountability and general management, particularly for the Hydro One empire. That smart meters may be an essential piece of infrastructure in a transition towards more efficient energy delivery and providing greater control of one’s hydro bill to the consumer is not really something the AG considers, nor perhaps should.
And sometimes the AG isn’t very insightful or even helpful, as when she concluded that there was a “need to provide ministry and agency staff with training to help them do their work more consistently and effectively” for the Child Care, Parole Board, Nominee, and Residential Services for People with Development Disabilities programs. Isn’t that just good counsel for all employees, regardless of program?
The provincial government used some very creative accounting to approve a loan to complete a building in downtown Toronto that was far from fully rented.
The AG also followed up on whether the government had paid attention to previous recommendations and whether the culprits had cleaned up their acts as a result. Of the 77 recommendations, requiring 170 actions, from the 2012 report, she noted that 81% of had been “either fully implemented or are in the process.”
Impressed with this statistic, one might question whether the AG shouldn’t be brought in earlier – to help program managers’ better design and implement their responsibilities. But that would, of course, shift her role to being both the prosecution and the defence, and immerse her office in a huge conflict of interest.
As the report notes, the mandate for the AG is fairly broad but it is limited to the activities within government ministries and agencies. So it is at some risk to her office that the AG ventures into criticizing general public policy, as she does when slamming provincial deficit and debt levels. “Ultimately, the question of how much debt the province should carry and the strategies the government could use to pay it down is one of government policy,” she notes.
So why does she even mention it? It is not like this provincial government is unaware that we have an emerging debt problem in Ontario. Since her interference is not for informative purposes, what is she doing? The good office of the AG compromises its credibility and authority once it decides to shed its independence and go political, as she has clearly done.
If Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk wants to attack public policies instead of doing what she is being paid for – to evaluate programs – she should join a political party. In fact there is an opening right now for leader of the Progressive Conservatives.
Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province.
Background links:
AG on Debt AG on Private Partnerships
AG on Smart Meters AG Report
By Pepper Parr
December 10, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The province is moving forward with some pretty big infrastructure projects.
That new Union Pearson Express, a dedicated express train that will provide fast, reliable service between Canada’s two busiest transportation hubs, Union Station in downtown Toronto, and the Toronto Pearson International Airport is to be launched in the Spring.
The terminal at Union Station for the UP express to Pearson airport.
Get ready for a major hit to the pocket book – yours – when the prices are made public. This may well come in at about the $35 price range.
The GTAA – that’s the Greater Toronto Airport Authority – will get $2 for every person that uses the service. They want you to pay them to get on their property to take a plane that they rent space to. Talk about a win-win or should that be Wynne-Wynne?
Construction is now almost complete on the Union Pearson Express station at Terminal 1.
Train service is on track to start next spring, in time to serve visitors to the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games.
Eighteen new trains will run between Union Station and Toronto Pearson in just 25 minutes, every 15 minutes. Making it easier to get from the airport to the heart of Toronto’s downtown will help relieve gridlock, attract more visitors and build up the economy.
Improving transit and transportation is part of the government’s economic plan for Ontario. The four-part plan is building Ontario up by investing in people’s talents and skills, building new public infrastructure like roads and transit, creating a dynamic, supportive environment where business thrives, and building a secure retirement savings plan.
• In its first year alone, the Union Pearson Express (UP Express) is expected to take 1.2 million car trips off the road.
• The construction of the UP Express is creating and supporting more than 1,200 jobs.
• Toronto Pearson and Union Station are expected to serve 190 million travellers a year by 2031 – almost double the current annual traffic.
• Metrolinx has proposed an adult one-way fare between Union Station and Toronto Pearson of $19 with a PRESTO card or $27.50 without a PRESTO card, with discounts for seniors, students, families, children, qualified airport employees and people who board at the Bloor or Weston stations.
• Metrolinx’s Board of Directors will vote on the fares tomorrow.
• PRESTO is an electronic fare payment system available across 10 transit agencies in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, and Ottawa. It uses smart-card technology that stores funds in a secure account, replacing the need for tickets, tokens, passes or cash.
Getting to the airport from Burlington – what will it take in terms of time and what will it cost – and will it be worth it?
We will arrange for a test trip and a tour of the facilities and let you know if it is worth it – might be better to flip the oldest male heir $50 to drive you to the airport and hope he doesn’t trash the vehicle while you are away.
By Staff
December 9, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It is a tradition in the provincial legislature for one member to congratulate another when they make their “maiden speech” at Queen`s Park. Monday morning Norm Miller, member for Parry Sound said “These are always special speeches, because you learn so much about the member’s family and what brought them to the Legislature.
“I’ve learned a few things today. The member’s mother was born in Glasgow, as my mother was born in Glasgow, and that she comes from a large family—the youngest of a large family. She certainly has a very close relationship with her mother.
“She also thanked the past member for Burlington for her work. I know that Jane McKenna has been out to some community events, and she says how nice you have been to her at those events.
“Congratulations on your maiden speech” said Miller
And with that Burlington`s first Liberal member of the legislature in more than 70 years stood up to give her first full speech
Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon delivering her inaugural speech in the legislature.
Ms. Eleanor McMahon: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe you will find that we have unanimous consent to allow me to deliver my inaugural address during debate on this bill today.
The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): The member for Burlington is seeking unanimous consent to deliver her maiden, or inaugural, speech in this House. Agreed? Agreed.
The member for Burlington.
Ms. Eleanor McMahon: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to rise and join the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry in speaking in support of Bill 37, the proposed Invasive Species Act. This proposed legislation would address a serious threat to our province. Indeed, close to my home in the riding of Burlington, the Cootes to Escarpment is the perfect example, a precious tract of land that contains more indigenous species than any other area of Canada, a number of them species at risk. Bill 37 will protect areas like the Cootes to Escarpment.
Invasive species cause significant damage to the natural environment, which results in significant ecological, economic and social costs, as the minister outlined. This is the case within Ontario, across Canada and internationally. Invasive species move into ecosystems and take over, killing or crowding out some native species. Invasive species disrupt food webs, degrade habitat, introduce parasites and disease, and lead to species becoming at risk. Globally, only habitat loss is a bigger threat to biodiversity.
McMahon wants to ensure that invasive species do not get into Cootes paradise.
Mr. Speaker, on a global basis, invasive species costs are estimated to be $1.4 trillion. That’s the equivalent of 5% of the global GDP and seven times the cost of natural disasters. Industries like fishing, hunting, forestry, tourism and agriculture can all be negatively affected by invasive species. In the Great Lakes basin, invasive species foul water intakes, reduce the value of commercial and recreational fisheries and reduce property values. Every year, invasive plants cost the agriculture and forest industries in Canada about $7.3 billion.
All invasive species pose some risk; however, some species pose a bigger threat than others. The members of this Legislature will be familiar with the Asian carp, which have damaged the ecosystems of many American lakes and rivers. There are actually four species of Asian carp: bighead, silver, grass and black carp. Our greatest concerns are bighead and silver carp, which have spread the most aggressively in the United States. They are considered one of the greatest threats to our Great Lakes.
Asian carp are voracious consumers. They eat up to 20% of their body weight each day. Everywhere they go, they eat the food supply that native fish depend on, and they crowd native species out of their habitat. The decline of native fish species could damage sport and commercial fishing right here in Ontario. Currently, there are no established populations—thank goodness—of Asian carp in Ontario waters. Preventing Asian carp from spreading in the Great Lakes is the best way to prevent harm to Ontario’s native fish species.
Another species that has not yet entered Ontario is the mountain pine beetle. In British Columbia, it has destroyed millions of hectares of pine trees. Reports have predicted that climate change, a major underlying cause of the proliferation of invasive species, may allow the beetles to spread north and east. The cost of fighting the mountain pine beetle is staggering. Since 2001, the BC government has spent close to a billion dollars fighting this one insect.
Invasive plants may not be as well known, but they are also a serious threat. One of them, hydrilla, is considered one of the world’s worst aquatic invaders. It can grow up to 2.5 centimetres a day, resulting in extremely dense growth that impacts boaters and swimmers. Hydrilla has not yet been detected in Canada, but it has spread rapidly throughout the United States. It is highly adaptable and thrives in many different kinds of aquatic environments.
The Inaugural speech was detailed focused and on an issue that is important to Burlington.
Asian carp, the mountain pine beetle and hydrilla aren’t yet established in Ontario, as I mentioned, but we are managing many invasive species that have become established here.
Some invasive species can be a threat to human health. One example is the giant hogweed, a plant introduced from Asia. Its toxic sap can cause painful burning blisters on the skin when exposed to sunlight. In addition to that threat, this plant can spread readily and shade out native plants, which can have an impact on our biodiversity.
Another invasive species that is already established in Ontario is the round goby. It is a small, bottom-dwelling fish that feeds aggressively on fish eggs, larvae and other small organisms found on lake and river bottoms. In less than a decade, the round goby has spread through all five of our Great Lakes and begun to invade inland waters. The round goby’s aggressive eating habits and ability to spawn several times each season have helped them multiply and spread quickly. In fact, in some areas, the fish has reached densities of more than 100 fish per square metre. Round goby have reduced populations of sport fish and threaten several species at risk in our Great Lakes basin.
There is no question that the threat of invasive species is real and significant.
Managing the threat of invasive species is challenging and complex. It requires a coordinated approach. Indeed, managing invasive species has always been a collaborative effort across all levels of government as well as with industry, environmental groups and the public.
Ontario plans to continue to collaborate with all of those involved in invasive species management, including the federal government, which has an important national role to play in invasive species management. Indeed, I want to be clear: Our proposed Invasive Species Act is intended to complement the role of the federal government, not duplicate or take over their responsibility. The proposed Invasive Species Act will enable Ontario to use its own framework to determine an appropriate course of action.
Preventing invasive species from arriving and becoming established in Ontario is critical in our fight against this growing threat. Evidence has shown that the costs of preventing invasive species from becoming established through taking immediate action are generally much lower than the costs of controlling an established invasive species. Like so many things, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
We know that there may be many circumstances that arise where immediate and urgent action is required to eliminate or reduce the spread of an invasive species. This could happen if a new invasive species is found in Ontario or an existing invasive species is found in a new area of the province. The proposed legislation will help by allowing the government to intervene earlier and enable rapid response actions. This could include working with partners to stop an invasive species from spreading: for example, by preventing or restricting the movement of contaminated firewood.
Mr. Speaker, as I noted earlier, addressing the threat of invasive species is a collaborative effort. I would like to take a few minutes to highlight a few of the many enduring partnerships our government has built in the area of invasive species management and education. We place tremendous value on these relationships, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our ministry stakeholders for their valuable advice and for giving of their time and talents to enrich our public policy work as a government. Ontario works with the Great Lakes states and the US and Canadian governments to prevent aquatic invasive species, such as Asian carp, from entering the Great Lakes. Indeed, there is a federal office in my riding of Burlington which is doing extensive work in this area.
We have been working with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters for more than two decades to deliver the Invading Species Awareness Program. The program raises awareness of the threat of invasive species to Ontario’s biodiversity. It engages the public in preventing and controlling the spread, and monitoring the distribution, of invasive species. This program also operates the Invading Species Hotline to give the public an avenue to report sightings, seek information and request educational material on invasive species.
More recently, we established the Invasive Species Centre in Sault Ste. Marie to work with the federal government and other partners to address invasive forest and aquatic species and invasive plants. Ontario has provided approximately $9.7 million towards the establishment and operation of this centre.
Partnerships such as these are helping us to protect our natural environment and industries that contribute thousands of jobs to our economy. One example is recreational fishing, an industry that contributes about $2.2 billion to Ontario’s economy and is also a notable contributor to our tourism industry. Ontario will continue to collaborate and work with these partners and, if passed, the proposed Invasive Species Act could help us expand the use of strategic partnerships.
The proposed act would provide the minister with authority to enter into agreements to help us prevent, detect, control and eradicate invasive species. As such, the legislation will provide us with the tools we need to protect our environment and our economy. Under the proposed act, regulations could be made to prohibit certain activities to help prevent the spread of an invasive species. Agreements could identify exemptions that would be necessary to achieve desired outcomes. For example, an agreement with a local conservation partner could allow the partner to undertake a program to control species such as garlic mustard. The partner would be able to possess the plant during the control activities and then dispose of it properly.
As I said earlier, managing invasive species is a responsibility shared with other governments, industry, environmental groups and the public. In fact, Ontarians can report sightings of invasive species to help us detect new ones and monitor the spread of those that are more established.
We can all play a role in protecting Ontario’s biodiversity. How can we do this? By planting non-invasive species in gardens, by never releasing bait or any wildlife into nature, by washing our boats before moving them to another body of water, and by buying firewood locally and leaving what we don’t use.
We need to engage all Ontarians in doing their part to protect species and habitats, and as policy-makers, we need to do our part as well, by taking a leadership role with this proposed legislation. The proposed Invasive Species Act would help limit the social and economic impacts of invasive species by preventing them from becoming established, controlling their spread once they are here, and eradicating them if possible. As such, I would encourage all members of this House to support this critical legislation. I look forward to today’s discussion and the debate to come.
In the meantime, it is my honour and pleasure to stand in this House and spend some time talking about my journey to public life, to talk about what I hope to accomplish and bring to public service during my time here and thank the people who have helped me along the way.
It is worth noting that in strict terms this is my inaugural speech, Mr. Speaker, and that I have already had the honour and privilege of speaking on a number of occasions, to items that are not just of local interest and concern to the people of my riding of Burlington, but to Ontarians as well.
I must say that I am rather glad to have had these two months to begin to become accustomed to this historic and storied place and the work that we do here. As such, I can now look back on the past few months with a bit of perspective and experience.
Inaugural speech was lengthy; McMahon was certain her Mother Marie was watching.
If this speech were to have a theme, I would say that it is gratitude. There are many people to thank and many things to be grateful for. Let me begin by thanking the people of Burlington for the confidence they expressed in me on June 12. I am humbled by that confidence, and I look forward to serving them in this place, and to working with them towards improving the quality of life of all of the people in our beautiful city.
It is an honour and a privilege to have this opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives, to be entrusted with their hopes and dreams, as well as their challenges. I’m grateful to have the chance to work on behalf of such an extraordinary community, and with such kind and generous people.
I would like to take a moment to offer a sincere thank-you to my predecessor, Jane McKenna, for her sacrifices and service in representing the riding of Burlington since 2011.
Applause.
Ms. Eleanor McMahon: Yes. Since my election, I have come to know what Jane knew during her three years of able service here: The hours are long, the time away from family significant. Thank you, Jane, for representing Burlington in this place so ably.
On our first day of orientation, we were reminded that, of the 13 million people who call Ontario home, we are but 107. “How fortunate am I?” I thought, and I know that many of my colleagues feel the same. We came here with a sense of purpose and excitement, and with a desire to serve.
My colleague the Honourable Ted McMeekin is fond of quoting Bobby Kennedy. Ted volunteered for Bobby on one of his campaigns, and he heard him say about his passion for making change: “Don’t get mad, don’t get even—get elected.” I think that call to action embodies the desire that most of us have here to make a difference in the lives of the people we serve, to work as diligently as we can on their behalf and to do so with a listening ear and an open heart.
McMahon and her late husband decided that Burlington would be home for them. She told the members of the legislature that Burlington was the most beautiful city in the province. Her speech almost turned into a debate.
Let me talk for just a minute, if I may, about another reason I’m grateful to the people of Burlington. I am not from Burlington. I was born in Windsor, Ontario. I came to Burlington in 2005. My late husband and I chose Burlington. He was an OPP officer, and to a certain degree we had a choice of where we wanted to live in the GTHA. We chose Burlington for its beauty and for its people, and for our families. My brother and his wife have called Burlington home for over 20 years. During that time, as a result of numerous visits, we fell in love with Burlington and decided to settle there, which we did in the summer of 2005.
Since that time, my affection and my ties to the community have deepened. Burlington has been very good to me, and I’d like to thank my friends and my community for their warm embrace. Since becoming your MPP, your kindness and your graciousness have been nothing short of overwhelming. I’m grateful to you for making this native of Windsor feel right at home in Burlington.
I can honestly say that there is no more beautiful place to live in our province than Burlington. I’m delighted to have this opportunity—
Interjections.
Ms. Eleanor McMahon: That may be a moment of debate.
I’m grateful to have this opportunity to thank everyone who helped me during the election campaign this past June. To our extraordinary volunteers, our wonderful staff—most especially, our dedicated campaign manager—our generous donors, and to the members of the Burlington Riding Association, the words “thank you” don’t seem quite enough. Your support and your encouragement, your confidence expressed in me as your candidate, your kind words of comfort when I needed it most—for all of this and so much more, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Parts of Burlington that McMahon loves to cycle through.
Your support for me helped me during the election campaign, and it will serve to guide me in my work as the first Liberal in Burlington in 71 years. Our celebration on election night was one I shall never forget, and nothing short of extraordinary. Thank you for being there for me.
Perhaps most memorable was the presence of my family on election night. It has been said, and it’s true, that to do this job truly requires a support network unlike any other. I am truly blessed with an extraordinary group of siblings, their spouses, and my nieces and nephews.
Most of all, I was proud of the fact that my mother, Marie McMahon, was there with me. When we learned that I had won, we were standing in the foyer of my brother’s home. In an exchange I will never forget, my mother turned to me and said, “Your dad would be so proud.” It was a touching moment, to be sure, but it brought home to me, as indeed did my decision to run, that I was truly fortunate to have been raised by two extraordinary people, who taught my brothers and sisters and I about the true meaning of working hard, giving back and community service.
My dad, Hugh McMahon, died in 1994 of cancer. Dad worked hard all his life. His family was his greatest joy. His own childhood was marked by challenging moments, from growing up during the Depression, to the start of the Second World War. Dad enlisted in the Canadian army at the age of 16; he lied about his age. He went overseas and served his country as part of the Canadian First Regiment. He landed in Sicily, saw action during the Italian campaign and later took part in the liberation of Holland.
A proud moment for me came in 2007 while attending, with an official delegation from Burlington city hall, the city of Apeldoorn, one of Burlington’s twin cities. We visited the Canadian War Cemetery in Nijmegen. A number of soldiers from my father’s unit are buried there, and his regimental crest is in the Apeldoorn city hall.
Dad returned to Canada after the war and married my mother, Marie, in 1948. He attended university briefly in Toronto and returned to Windsor, where he worked at Chrysler until 1981. Seven children followed, as did a life of community service in the militia and with many local organizations.
My mother, who I think is watching today, is a shining light for me. Mum will be 89 on Thursday. She was born in Glasgow and grew up in Windsor. A pioneer in so many ways and a strong believer in education, Mum attended Assumption University, then part of the University of Windsor. She got a science degree and served as a laboratory technologist at Windsor’s Grace Hospital for most of her career.
She and Dad both felt very strongly that education provided a gateway of opportunity, and they encouraged us in every way possible. Mum was adamant, too, that as women—there were five of us girls—we must have our independence, our own income and the ability to make our own decisions.
Mum is tiny in stature but mighty in every other sense of the word. Her love for her children, her care and concern for others and her utter selflessness have shaped my life in amazing ways. I would not be standing here today without her.
To you, Mum, I offer my undying love and thanks. Thank you for making me feel like I could do anything. Thank you for always being there for me, and for your wisdom and your friendship.
To my siblings: I’m truly grateful to you for your encouragement and support. I am so lucky to have such a tremendous group of ardent supporters and cheerleaders. As the youngest of all of you, I have benefited from your wisdom—and your mistakes—your advice, your terrific humour and your wit. You offer me a hand up when I need it, and no request is too much. When I told you I wanted to run, you were worried about the rigours of the debate and the demands of the job. After dutifully expressing your concerns to your younger sister, you were there from day one. Thank you all.
Earlier, I spoke of my parents as people who inspired me to public service. I grew up in a house where the mantra was, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” Speaking of my mother, I should add that her personal commitment to her family and her community was recently recognized. Mum recently got a volunteer award from Hospice Windsor in recognition of her 30 years of service as a volunteer.
Applause.
Ms. Eleanor McMahon: Yes. Thank you.
Every Thursday Mum cooks lunch with her friend for the past 70-plus years, Mabel Gagnier, for hospice patients and their families. I know that Mum is loved by her hospice family, but I know too, because she’s told me this, that she gets as much out of this experience as she gives. Her stories of people who are in the most difficult and challenging of circumstances serve to bring a necessary perspective to her life and to mine as we reflect on what is important. As you can see, from my mother I learned empathy and compassion.
Speaking earlier this year to the CEO of the Carpenter Hospice in Burlington, I was reflecting on the same theme: the events that shape our lives and the people who inspire us. As we all know, one of the best parts of this job is the opportunity to attend events and meet the wonderful people in your riding. Well, it was very early in my job as an MPP that I truly understood what Burlington is made of, and it is strong stuff indeed.
McMahon told her fellow parliamentarians how badly Burlington was flooded last August. She was instrumental in getting funds for the flood victims.
On the evening of August 4, a once-in-100-years storm brought 200 millimetres of rain to Burlington in just six hours. This rain is the equivalent of the amount of precipitation that Burlington would see in July and August together. This devastating storm flooded our streets and people’s homes. A rush of water filled people’s basements and over 3,100 homes were damaged. As the unrelenting rain fell that night, reports began to pour in of flooding on the 407, the QEW, Fairview and New Streets, Brant, Guelph, Walkers Line and Appleby Line; all flooded, our major north-south arterial roads. The water overwhelmed Burlington’s sewage system, which at capacity is built for three million litres an hour. At the height of the storm, this reached 10 million litres.
People’s basements filled in mere moments as creeks overflowed their banks. Visiting devastated homes the next day on Regal Road, among the hardest hit, I met people who fled with their children, their animals and a few precious memories as water filled their basements within minutes. Seeing their anguish, not to mention the contents of their homes on their front lawns, was heart-wrenching.
Homes were devastated by the flood. McMahon was out into the community within hours going door to door with the Mayor.
On the 5th, I got on the phone, but many people were calling, too, wondering how they could help. My colleagues were there, and I’d like to thank them. The member from Halton; the Minister of Labour, the member from Oakville, and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, all in neighbouring ridings, were there, offering a friendly word of advice. Thank you.
Applause.
Ms. Eleanor McMahon: Yes.
But it was the response of our community that was so remarkable. I reached out to the mayor that evening. He was travelling back from his cottage in response to the disaster. His own home was flooded. He hit the ground running the next day, and as we travelled door to door together, it became apparent that greater assistance was needed.
On the night of the flood and in the days that followed, our EMS personnel were extraordinary. Our front-line police officers, firefighters, paramedics—all were there, doing an amazing job rescuing people from their flooded vehicles and responding to those in need.
Later on, with the assistance of the region of Halton, the Red Cross came to our aid and did an extraordinary job quantifying the amount of flooding and the impact on people’s lives. Together we mobilized community support. I called the CEO of United Way, and 72 hours later they had a website portal up and running to collect donations.
The mayor, working with our regional chair, mobilized staff. City and regional staff began the process of responding to those in need and going door to door. As the scope of the disaster became clear, city council met and declared a state of emergency, triggering an Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program request.
Ron Foxcroft made the phone calls, Collen Mulholland displayed the cheque while McMahon pressed the province to deliver matching funds. The bankers were asked to give up some of the money in their vaults.
On the community side, donations poured in and the community foundation stepped up, offering much-needed volunteer and fundraising support. The CEO of the community foundation, Colleen Mulholland, and her team have done an extraordinary job. Under the chairmanship of Ron Foxcroft, the disaster relief committee has worked hand in hand with the community foundation to raise funds, and to date, I am proud to say that our generous community has contributed close to $1 million to help their neighbours in need.
Indeed, one of the truly wonderful things about Burlington is how generous our community really is. In 2010, 30% of Burlingtonians contributed to a charitable cause, higher than the provincial average of 24.5%.
During the summer, I attended many events which contributed to the flood relief, raising funds and rallying the community, from neighbourhood fundraisers like the Up the Creek event started by some neighbours whose street and homes were flooded—they raised $20,000—to our Rotary Club’s Ribfest event, which raised thousands of dollars as well. There I was, side by side at the door, raising money with buckets, mayor and city Councillors right beside me.
While the scope of the disaster made for a challenging summer for our community, and while much of the hard work remains to be done by the committee as they adjudicate requests for funding, I am proud to say that on November 10, my colleague, the member from Halton, and I announced that our government would be contributing up to $3 million to support Burlington and its flood relief. For a new MPP, this was an extraordinarily proud moment.
Speaker, the election provided me with an excellent opportunity to speak to some of the opportunities and challenges facing our community. During that time and since, I’ve had many conversations about the kind of Burlington we all want now and into the future. Burlington has one of the highest median incomes in Canada and we enjoy an excellent quality of life overall. Still, there are challenges. As the recent Vital Signs report by the Burlington Community Foundation shows, Burlington has one of the oldest populations in the GTHA. While most of our seniors are aging successfully, over 5% of them are living in poverty. More broadly, close to 8% or over 13,000 of our residents in Burlington are living in low-income households. When it comes to housing, access to affordable housing remains a barrier to many.
When it comes to employment, Burlington is doing well, with stronger employment levels than Ontario as a whole. The number of jobs is up 7% and the number of businesses is up 4% since the 2012 employment survey.
Infill housing on what were once half acre single story post war bungalows are now the norm for Burlington.
To maintain this excellent quality of life, I’ve had conversations about how, as a community, we can work together to tackle some of our challenges. Burlington is built out; therein lies another challenge. Our growth will come from infill and density. With growth comes the need for stronger transportation networks. I look forward to working with city hall, our region, local businesses, citizens’ groups and my colleagues in the House on creating transit hubs in Burlington and encouraging the kinds of alternative transportation—cycling and walking—that will make our community more connected and more liveable, and attract investment.
Issues such as food security, investing in our agri-food sector, which is a strong sector locally, and continued investments in health and education will continue to dominate my conversations in the months and years to come and remain areas of strong local focus. In particular, youth and adolescent mental health is another area which is in significant need of focus, as demonstrated again by our community foundation and their work. I’ve also had terrific conversations about how, working together, we can find solutions to these important issues.
On a final note, Mr. Speaker, I started this speech talking about what brought me here and what I hope to accomplish. I want to close my remarks by mentioning someone who’s no longer here but who had and continues to have a very positive impact on my life. On June 6, 2006, my late husband, Greg Stobbart, a veteran OPP officer with 24 years of experience in policing, was killed by a careless driver. Greg died, not in the line of duty, but doing something he loved. We were training for a triathlon. He had recently purchased a new bike, and with a beautiful day beckoning, set out on a training ride from which he never returned. Greg’s tragic death at the age of 44 in a senseless collision was a life-changing event for me, for my family and for his as well. His legacy lives on in me and my desire to continue in this place the work that I started to create a more bicycle-friendly Ontario.
McMahon became a force to be reckoned with in the cycling community and created the Share the Road organization and pushed the province to pass Gregg’s Law
Our response to Greg’s death came on many fronts. First, working with then-Minister of Transportation the Honourable Jim Bradley, we changed the Highway Traffic Act. In 2009, after sustained advocacy, we got Greg’s Law passed, increasing the penalties on suspended drivers based on similar legislation in six other provinces. The man who killed Greg had five convictions for driving under suspension, four convictions for driving with no licence, $15,000 in unpaid fines, and two months after he killed my husband, he hit someone else.
As you can imagine, Mr. Speaker, this instilled in us the importance of focusing on that advocacy and securing those changes to the Highway Traffic Act. Our goal was to prevent others from going through what we did, and we wanted to get those repeat offenders out from behind the wheel and off the road. Greg’s Law became the law of Ontario in October 2009.
Second, we launched the Share the Road Cycling Coalition in Ontario in 2008. Share the Road has become the provincial cycling policy and advocacy organization, representing thousands of local organizations, cyclists, stakeholders and municipal leaders from across Ontario, united in a vision of safer communities for all road users.
In 2012, I had the privilege of sitting on the coroner’s review into cycling deaths in Ontario and secured a recommendation for an Ontario cycling strategy. Together with the Honourable Glen Murray, who was then Minister of Transportation, I launched that strategy, the first of its kind in Ontario in over 20 years, in September 2013, a proud moment.
MPP McMahon’s staff watching her inaugural speech on desktop computers.
In Greg’s memory, and in memory of all the cyclists who have been killed and injured, I look forward to continuing the work we started at Share the Road. Together with all members of this House, given the tremendous benefits of cycling, I look forward to making our communities and our province even more bike-friendly in the years to come.
In the interim, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank you and my colleagues and all the members of this House for their gracious welcome, for your friendship and your support, for this opportunity to share my thoughts with you and for the privilege of being the MPP for Burlington.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
By Staff
December 5, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Well – we have heard this one before – the plans to build a high-speed rail line that will connect Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Toronto. It will improve travel options, reduce travel time and – oh yes – create jobs by getting people moving. Everything the government does
The start of an integrated environmental assessment (EA) marks the next phase of the project, which includes identifying the most appropriate route, examining state-of-the-art transportation technology options and an environmental evaluation.
The EA will be guided by consultations in early 2015 with municipal and business groups, as well as with First Nation and Métis communities.
Shape of things to come?
High-speed rail service connecting Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Toronto is part of the government’s long-term transit and infrastructure plan, Moving Ontario Forward. This plan will make nearly $29 billion available over the next 10 years for investments in priority infrastructure projects across the province, including public transit, roads, bridges and highways.
The Mayor of London, Matt Brown thinks it’s a great idea. “This is fantastic news for London. High-speed rail will benefit many vital economic sectors in London. We look forward to working with the province on this initiative.”
Let’s make a note on this initiative – see if it gets much beyond the Environmental Assessment stage.
By Pepper Parr
December 3, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
He didn’t get it off on his best foot. Mayor Goldring reminded the audience at the Inauguration of the 2014-18 Council that the last time he was on the stage of the Performing Arts Centre he was playing the piano – “and I was terrible” he said.
Ron Foxcroft on the right explaining to Mayor Goldring that talent was needed to get the job done.
He was preceded by keynote speaker Ron Foxcroft who was funnier and agreed with the Mayor that the city had a fine council to go forward with. The city was now in a position to “elevate its game”.
The Honourable Mr. Justice Dale Fitzpatrick commissioned the declarations of office. The members of Council weren’t actually sworn in they just read a statement saying they would basically behave and do the best they could. They all said that last time.
This Inauguration was the first held outside city hall – and it was a decent event. The seats certainly weren’t filled and about 20% of the 400 in the audience were city hall staff – but it was a good idea and should become a tradition for the city.
All the notables were there – but surprisingly – the only candidate who did not win election was Carol Gottlob who ran in ward 4 against Jack Dennison. Every member of Burlington’s council was re-elected which Foxcroft thought was great – there were now no trainees on Council was how he put it. They were all seasoned veterans.
Rick Goldring said all the right things; he thanked the 61 people, who stepped up as candidates to put their names on the ballot for Regional Chair, Mayor, Council and School Board in the 2014 Municipal Election. “Putting your name on a ballot is an act of courage and a true testament to your commitment and love for Burlington. You put your ideas, reputations, and yourselves on the line, offering to serve your community and share your skill and passion. This is democracy at its best.”
He congratulated his council colleagues: Rick Craven, Marianne Meed Ward, John Taylor, Jack Dennison, Paul Sharman and Blair Lancaster. Each was applauded when they were introduced; had there been an applause meter Meed Ward would have been the hands down winner.
During the election campaign the Mayor chose not to address his citizens on the steps of city hall because it would be seen as campaigning. The issue was one of changing the way the world treats the planet; it was a bigger issue than municipal politics. Daring to be a Daniel was just not within the Mayor’s comfort zone. we will all pay for this.
“Your successful election campaigns are” said the Mayor “an endorsement of your tireless efforts and results. We must continue to work diligently and collaboratively, to earn the trust of our constituents. We have been provided a mandate collectively to continue to serve our fellow citizens to address the issues, opportunities and challenges that continue to face us. It is only by working collaboratively, respectfully and in an atmosphere of trust that we can thrive as servants of the residents of Burlington.”
“I firmly believe that holding elected office is an honour and privilege that should never ever be taken for granted. Whether you have served on council for 4 years or 26 years, let us never forget how and why we ended up here. At the same time, we all have to realize that we must make decisions that balance current and future needs.”
“We have to be leaders, not politicians, and be ready to make decisions that may not necessarily be popular in the short term. Getting re-elected should not be our goal. Serving the 180,000 residents of our community is the lens that we need to look through and at the same time be ready to hear and listen to all views on all issues that may result in revised and enhanced decisions.”
“In our decision making,” the Mayor continued, “we must embrace differences in view points and opinions. Having every major decision be unanimous is not our goal. Having thoughtful, informed, forthright, and respectful dialogue is our objective, not just among ourselves, but also with city staff and the community.”
“While we have done great work together, we have much more ahead of us and the community has heightened expectations for us to realize.” The Mayor did get that one right.
My Vision for Burlington
Goldring said: “In the last 4 years and during the election campaign, I have connected and had dialogue with 1000s of residents. Residents made positive comments and some suggestions for improvement. What I heard and I believe we all heard is that our residents love living in Burlington and are proud of their community.”
“My vision for Burlington builds on our past achievements and on where we need to be: a community that is healthy, sustainable, prosperous, safe, inclusive, caring and fun, and has a strong sense of who it is; balancing the vibrancy and amenities of a modern 21st century city with a distinctly rural character that is nestled in majestic and natural splendor is a big part of who we are.”
It is indeed a very big part of who we are – but we are more than our geography and the Mayor did get it when he said, “this balance is manifested in a true, ‘community’ feel, which is best represented by our waterfront, where young and old celebrate large scale, world class festivals, intimate community events, or through a simple stroll, jog, bicycle ride, roller blade, or reflection.”
Mayor Rick Goldring explaining to Kilbride area residents during the ice storm last year what was being done and the time frames the repair crews were working to in their community.
He was also right on when he said “the reality is that Burlington is, in fact, at a critical juncture: we cannot stand still because we have to balance our revenues with the services and infrastructure that residents need us to provide and deliver. We cannot burden ourselves, our children, and future Burlingtonians. The challenge in front of all of us is what we prioritize, how we innovate and design, and what we deliver.”
That was the hint that there are changes coming to tax rates and the level of service we are going to be getting from city hall. Expect some new taxes as well.
The Mayor told his audience that” in the brief time I have with you this evening, I will give you a flavour of the challenges ahead of us. The heavy lifting is to come and we need the involvement of the community.”
Reviewing the words on paper after the Mayor completed the vision portion of his address I felt I was looking at one of those Where’s Waldo puzzles but couldn’t find what I thought was going to be there. I couldn’t find any vision.
Vibrant Neighbourhoods
After decades of unprecedented growth in traditional green field communities like the Orchard and Alton, we have virtually no more room for such development.” Has the Mayor forgotten that Eagle Height is still there, the Evergreen project on Tremaine Road is still there and the city is thinking about converting a lot of employment land to residential. There is a challenge on development – we didn’t hear any ideas as to how this council will address those challenges.
“Councils both current and past” said the Mayor “have been resolute in protecting the 50% of Burlington that is rural and agricultural. The area north of the Dundas/407 corridor with the Mount Nemo plateau, the Bruce Trail, Lowville Park and the unique hamlets of Lowville and Kilbride makes Burlington unique and contributes to the quality of life of the whole city. This area with the tremendous amount green space and woodlots is truly the “lungs” of Burlington. If the rural north is the lungs then downtown is the “heart” and soul of Burlington.
True
“I meet people on a regular basis” said the Mayor “who have moved to our downtown from other areas of Burlington or Canada. They love it. Why – because you can walk everywhere. Shops, services, restaurants, the waterfront, the Burlington Performing Arts Centre, the Art Gallery of Burlington and the Joseph Brant Museum all contribute to downtown being one of the most walkable neighbourhoods in Canada.”
Councillor Meed Ward with Mayor Goldring. When members of council were introduced during the Inaugural Meed Ward got the loudest and most sustained applause. The two will face off in 2018
“We need to apply the same thinking in establishing walkable, compact and amenity rich neighbourhoods in other areas of Burlington. The desire to live in more amenity rich – transit supported neighbourhoods has increased dramatically.”
I wasn’t able to make the connection between being able to walk to most things and how that made Burlington a vibrant city.
“I have been talking about this for the last 4 years” said the Mayor and “ I have realized for the vast majority of people in Burlington there is a disconnection and a lack of understanding about why we are in this position and the benefits of a more urban environment. The context needs to be communicated and we need to engage our residents in this discussion so we can receive input resulting in development that is appropriate for Burlington.”
There will continue to be a disconnect and a lack of understanding; the same seven people who led us for the last four years are going to lead us for the next four years – how will anything different be done?
“We will also be investing in maintaining and improving infrastructure such as roads and technology that can move people and goods more efficiently, while also including bike lanes and enhanced public transportation, to promote healthy living, less traffic, a cleaner environment, and cater to the diverse needs of our community.”
Most of the data in the recently released Vital Signs report suggest just the opposite. We do not use transit; we want to drive our cars and there isn’t going to be a bike lane on Lakeshore Road because council voted against that during the last term.
Prosperity
“As a result of slowing residential growth and residential build out” said the Mayor, “we must strike a new balance between corporate and residential tax revenues by attracting new businesses. This is especially important given our rapidly aging population, which is higher than most neighbouring communities.
“More importantly, these businesses can provide employment opportunities to Burlingtonians who want thriving, challenging, and rewarding career options, but want to work close to home to spend more time with their families or to simply achieve a life balance. Reduced commuting times can also mitigate financial and environmental challenges.”
Noble sentiments – except that the Vital Signs report used data from the Regional government that pointed to the fact that there are now more people working in retail than in manufacturing. No one moved to Burlington to work as a sales clerk in a store or a waiter in a restaurant.
“I also want to encourage and foster entrepreneurship. Such companies create a stunning 80% of new jobs in Canada and create business clusters, which, in turn, attract young people and families.”
“Entrepreneurship” said the Mayor also creates a culture of innovation and creativity that not only fuels those enterprises, but can also cultivate a mindset that can help find better ways for us to live, work, serve each other, collaborate, and govern.”
Excellence in Government
“The Drummond report that was published two years ago commissioned by the Ontario Government discusses the importance of living within our means in an environment of slower growth. The concept of doing more with less will continue and is particularly applicable to Burlington. The transition to Service Based Budgeting for the 2015 fiscal year is not a panacea or cure for all that ails us. However, it does provide us with a framework that will assist in effectively prioritizing, designing, evaluating and funding programs and services that meet the evolving needs of our residents.”
It didn’t take the Mayor long to realize that the photo ops were the easiest way to create a profile and there was seldom any risk involved.
“As an organization we need to and we will continue to embrace the concept and practice of continuous improvement. As individuals, as a team and as a city, there is always room for improvement.”
“Let’s not allow the fact that we are already a very desirable city to live, work, play, raise a family and retire contribute to any complacency.”
“The City of Burlington does not operate isolation. There are many partners that we need to continue to work with in addressing our complex challenges and opportunities including Halton Region, other cities, the province and the federal government.”
“We are fortunate in Burlington to have a spirit of cooperation and collaboration with other orders of government in large part because of the efforts of Gary, Eleanor, Indira and Mike Wallace who are all committed to be bold and innovative in advocating for Burlington.”
This city has to give MP McMahon and keynote speaker Ron Foxcroft a truckload of credit for getting the province to change their mind when they originally said no to the request for financial support for the flood victims.
“The intense storm on August 4 that was unique to Burlington and resulted in flooding to 3500 homes, and the Ice Storm last December, are local evidence confirming the fact that we have to be prepared for warmer, wilder and wetter weather that is extremely unpredictable.”
“On August 4, certain parts of Burlington received as much rainfall in less than a day that was equal to an average July and August combined. Just across the border in Buffalo and western New York, in an area that is used to receiving significant snowfall annually, received the equivalent of one year’s average snowfall, not in the winter months of January or February but in a few days in mid-November. In 9 out of the last 11 years, the insurance industry has paid out more in homeowner claims than they collect in premiums. Currently, Canada is the only G8 country that does not have overland flood insurance for homeowners in the market place.”
“Being a more resilient city should be the goal for every municipality. I assure all of us that Burlington will be a leader, working with the other orders of government, in addressing climate change adaptation.”
It has been evident for some time that Mayor Goldring wants to work with other levels of government; he is in the process of positioning himself on different boards and committees to expand Burlington’s voice. Time will tell if Rick Goldring will prove to be an effective voice should he get where he wants to do.
The Mayor does deserve credit for the initial actions he took once he had a clear understanding as to just how much flood damage had been done. He placed two critical phone calls and got the response he needed. He called Collen Mulholland , president of the Burlington Community Foundation and asked if that organization would take on the task of managing the fund raising drive and then to oversee the distribution of funds that would be raised.
Burlington’s Mayor thinks through what he does and usually chooses to err on the side of caution.
The Mayor then called Ron Foxcroft and asked him if he would lead the fund raising drive. Those two calls were leadership at its best – doing the right thing at the right time. We need to see more of this from the Mayor.
My vision” said the Mayor, “ is to make this city ours. Not yours and not mine but ours. We will do this by working closely with residents to make a city that works for all of us and a city that we continue to be proud to live in.”
“We will need your help to shape the Burlington of the future; we have the opportunity to continue to build and redesign our City to meet the needs of today and the changes needed for tomorrow. There are many opportunities through the Official Plan review process. In concert with the Strategic Plan, this document is the blue print for our City going forward.”
“Even during the best of times, there are always challenges to address that are formidable and daunting. But we are emboldened with confidence given our national recognition as being one of the very best cities to live in Canada. The talents, passion, and leadership of everyone in this room and across our entire community will continue to make Burlington a great city where opportunities abound for everyone.”
“Let us all work together and, over the next four years, make real progress and a real difference for the Burlington of today and tomorrow.”
And with that the audience headed for the bar where the soft drinks were free and you could eat all the cupcakes you wanted.
There was a better table of food at the 2010 Inauguration.
By Pepper Parr
December 1, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
The report gets put out every year – the most recent is the third released by the Burlington Community Foundation. It is a snapshot of where we are with the issues the Foundation feels are important to the city.
This year the Vital Signs report gives more attention is given to transit and mental health as well as, surprisingly, culture.
In the 2014 update, independent research continues to confirm that Burlington is truly unique among mid-size Canadian cities. Employment rates, new community gardens, improved waste management programs and dropping crime rates are among the many great livability highlights of this year’s report .
Are we a city “we can all feel at home in?” Not everyone can feel truly at home – we have some work to do.
As the BCF revisited 11 key areas of community life, a few areas with emerging issues were also uncovered. For instance, as our city becomes more built up, the city is experiencing more traffic, vehicle collisions and related property damage . There’s also a shortage of housing options. The current rental vacancy rate of 1 .9% is well below the 3% benchmark that is considered necessary for adequate competition and supply .
Established in 1999 as a centre for philanthropy, the Burlington Community Foundation exists today because local people had a clear vision for our city’s future .
Arts and culture:
The report suggests Burlington has a strong and diverse arts and culture scene; that should be seen as more of a wish. The arts have been a part of Burlington for a long time; culture is something that is emerging.
There are enough companies in the marketing field for the city to be seen as a place where good creative work can be done,
Vital Signs refers to a rich variety of cultural attractions that will engage people as “go to” places, accessible and affordable to all . Burlington will be home to and will showcase a wide variety of multicultural artists, spanning many types of art: from “traditional” art forms to emerging art forms .
“Burlington will be seen as a city that attracts, inspires, encourages and is home to creative thinkers.” We are not there yet.
If seen as part of the 20 years out projection a vision could have Burlington seen as an arts and culture travel destination: people will come to visit Burlington because of the quality and variety of its arts and cultural experiences within a context of recreational, retail, and culinary options. People come to Burlington now because of the geography and out festivals.
Anne Swarbrick, the Interim Executive Director, Art Gallery of Burlington hopes that the arts will be valued for their contributions to economic development and for the creative thinking and skills that they teach.
In a survey of Burlington residents, 76% said culture is “essential” or “highly important” in their daily lives. There are many types of cultural experiences. For Burlington residents, the top 6 are festivals (86%), museums and local history (81%), art galleries (78%), going to the theatre (75%), public art (69%) and family heritage and traditions (69%).
Burlington is home to 33 community cultural organizations, which together support:
624,000 visits to local festivals, events, productions and exhibitions, of which 535,000 visits are free to the public
89,000+ hours of cultural programming offered to all ages
650+ workshops
1,400+ residents engaging as volunteers.
Impressive numbers.
Burlington is not keeping up with the work force growth the Region is experiencing. Some research and analysis of this data is needed. who will do that research and analysis? Economic Development Corporation? Someone should do it.
Employment
The statistics the kind of employment available in Burlington is not as impressive. The Economic Development Corporation is constantly looking for companies they would like to see move to Burlington and create high added value and high paying jobs; the reality is that we are adding relatively low paying retail sector jobs in a city where apartment rents are higher than other communities in the GTA and rental availability is considerably below the standard
There doesn’t appear to be a strategy that will work. “Creating a high performance economy depends on the right blend of businesses, a highly qualified workforce, and motivated business investment”, says Mayor Rick Goldring. The Burlington Economic Development Corporation is taking a more direct, proactive and strategic approach for a short and long-term development strategy to retain and attract business. This strategy will be focused on creating a dynamic ecosystem conducive to business growth for Burlington’s long-term fiscal capacity, now and in the future.”
Statements like this amount to bafflegab – they say nothing.
Burlington has historically had stronger employment levels than Ontario as a whole . Updated information from Halton Region’s 2013 Employment Survey shows continued strength: the number of jobs is up 7% from the 2012 Employment Survey, and the number of businesses is up 4%.
However, job growth has been lower in Burlington compared to the rest of Halton Region. The types of jobs in Burlington are changing. Notably, in the 2012 Employment Survey, manufacturing was the largest sector by number of jobs, but in the 2013 survey it had dropped to second place behind the retail sector.
A portion of the Phase 2 Final Report on Employment Lands said: Over the next twenty years, a number of the conditions which underpinned the City’s past economic successes are expected to change.”
The drive for high quality well paying high tech jobs is not being reached; there are more people in retail now than in manufacturing – and Burlington isn’t exactly a shopper’s mecca.
“Ontario’s manufacturing-based economy has entered another period of transition, as manufacturers come to grips with increased global competition, changing patterns of foreign investment and an aging labour force. Fuel costs are rising and congestion on the 400 series highway network is increasing. Locally, the availability of land for new greenfield development is expected to become scarcer as Burlington approaches its build-out.”
That is not good news and suggests a significant re-think is needed as to what we want to be from an employment point of view is needed.
These are not good numbers. The city does not seem prepared to develop options that make it possible to travel by anything other than a car. Longer term this is very bad news for Burlington.
Transit and transportation:
The challenge of easing traffic congestion will increase due to population and employment; the call is for more use of alternate modes of transit. The people of Burlington don’t yet have any appetite for getting out of their cars
Build more roads ? – our options are limited: Widening existing roads or building new ones, in most circumstances, will encroach on private property, impact mature trees and green space or compromise the existing public spaces.
A more sustainable transportation strategy is to move more people per kilometer by walking, cycling, via transit using high occupancy vehicles.
15% of all trips within Burlington are by transit
30% of all eastbound trips leaving the city are by transit
10% of all westbound trips leaving the city are by transit
Sustainable local environmental practices
Burlington will have strong local food security and a strong local food economy. There will be significant local food production and processing.
Residents will have ready access to local food through farms, community gardens, farmers’ markets, grocery stores, and restaurants.
Neither of these is the case today
Lot’s of room for improvement here.
Michelle Bennett, Grow To Give Garden Coordinator, BurlingtonGreen Environmental Association, says the dream, the vision and provincial policy call for Burlington and Halton Region to protect its urban and rural green spaces, agricultural lands and woodlots . The Niagara Escarpment lands, flora, and wildlife have to remain preserved from greenfield development, expanded aggregate extraction and highway expansion.
Residents will be engaged and have as much say as developers, business and city planners in how land is used and developed in Burlington .
Burlington’s drinking water from Lake Ontario and groundwater aquifer sources will be clean and healthy for all.
Burlington will have a community energy strategy that effectively conserves energy use, emits less greenhouse gases, and is increasingly reliant on renewable sources.
These were correctly set out as dreams; it is going to take leadership and vision to make them a reality.
There are also competing interests at play; the people who own large swaths of land north of Dundas didn’t buy it to grow hay for horses.
A city where people enjoy the outdoors
Burlington has 1,472 acres of city-owned parkland, and the city each year takes care of 60,000 trees, plants 600 new trees, and maintains 796 acres of grass. Most residents are within a 10-minute or less walk from green space.
With steel plants across the bay – our air quality is surprisingly good.
Burlington operates three community gardens, two of which opened in 2014. “Community Gardens are shared spaces where people gather together to grow fruit, vegetables, and/or flowers collectively. Community Gardens provide health, economic, educational, social, and environmental benefits to participants and the community at large
We are prosperous, we are generous. Are we going to be able to make the allowances for those that are not as well of? If the prosperous want cleaning ladies – they will learn to make the needed allowances.
Burlington is a giving community.
In 2010, 30% of Burlington tax filers reported charitable donations, which is higher than for Ontario as a whole (24.5%). Collectively, Burlington tax filers donated $63 million to charities. (Community Development Halton, Charitable Donations in Halton, Community Lens Bulletin #91)
Many renters experience financial difficulty
When compared to other Regional Municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area, Halton’s average monthly rent is the highest.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing is considered affordable if shelter costs account for less than 30% of before-tax household income. If shelter costs exceed this threshold, it can become more difficult to afford other essentials such as food, clothing and transportation.
The data shows close to radical changes. Are we planning this type of change or is it what developers want to build and the city planners go along with the projects? Is this good planning? Does it reflect the Official Plan?
In Halton Region, over 41% of renters are spending more than 30% of their income on housing. The problem is even more severe among recent newcomers to Canada living in Halton, with 48 .5% spending more than 30% on shelter.
Are these numbers to be concerned about? Close to 20% of residents are part of a low income household.
Not only are rents high but there is a shortage of rental properties. The rental vacancy rate improved a bit from 1 .3% in 2012 to 1 .9% in 2013 . However, it is still well below the benchmark vacancy rate of 3% considered necessary for adequate competition and supply . It is also well below neighbouring Hamilton’s 3 .9% vacancy rate .
An application of community mobilization to policing – mental health:
“A lot of mental health issues have become policing issues because either there is no one else to call or they don’t know who else to call.” In the community mobilization approach, partnership with mental health organizations is critical.
Burlington is a safe place to live. Is that because of superior policing or geography?
Halton Regional Police Chief Steve Tanner says “We will always be the emergency response for mental health where someone may be violent or when someone is suicidal. We will always have the intervention, but then we should very quickly be able to hand it over to people who can deal with it better on a long-term basis.”
Canada’s age profile is getting older and Burlington is one of the city’s leading this change. The trend will continue for several decades into the future. For example, the proportion of people 65+ years of age in Ontario is expected to grow from 14 .6% of the population in 2011 to over 23% by the year 2036 .
Burlington’s age profile has historically been older than that of Ontario as a whole, and the difference has been increasing over time . As of 2011, 16 .9% of Burlington’s population was 65 years of age or older, compared to 14 .6% of Ontario’s population
The Burlington Community Foundation concludes that: “Potential is a word that sums up our city’s future. As a prosperous and affluent community, individual, household and family median incomes in Burlington are higher than the Ontario average. We are in a very fortunate situation.”
Looking ahead, a broad mix of employment opportunities – including more highly-skilled, well-paying jobs – will enable even more people to work and live here.”
“It is anticipated that the growing local food movement and urban gardening will both have a very positive impact on sustainable local environmental practices. Our close connection to nature will only increase with more urban and rural green spaces being protected from Greenfield development and aggregate extraction.
“Increased recycling and reuse initiatives have already helped to reduce garbage. However, we still have a way to go as 44% of materials currently being put in household garbage bins could have been recycled or composted.”
With less land available, more families will move into high density structures – the Halton Region Official Plan calls for half of all new housing units to be town-houses or multi-storey buildings and 30% to be affordable or assisted housing. Moving away from traditional single family homes will require new solutions and ideas to help us maintain the sense of community and scale that we all enjoy.
Does Burlington want to be a city of older people? Has our city council taken us in this direction or did it just happen? And is it good planning? More importantly, is it sustainable?
The demographics of our community have and will continue to change. With many boomers choosing to retire, a strategy to build stronger connections with millennials will be important. Young workers who establish work and family roots in our community are critical to ensuring a healthy and sustainable workforce. At the same time, a greater emphasis on community-based health care and supporting aging in place will assist our older residents who already face a shortage of long-term care facilities.
The 2013 Vital Signs identified an opportunity to improve mental wellness. In 2014, the Foundation organized three Roundtables to start conversations about mental wellness across our community. Leaders from mental health organizations, corporations and institutions, civic leaders, practitioners and community members, donors and fund holders as well as individuals who have experienced mental health challenges are all involved.
The next step is the creation of an action plan – supported by collaboration and community partnerships – to improve future mental wellness and mental health care in Burlington.
Collaborating with individual donors, public and private organizations to build endowments, give grants and connect leadership, the BCF is now the centre for philanthropy in the city. The 2014 Vital Signs report demonstrates the many opportunities Burlington has to continue to be a city that we can “all feel at home in.”
Related articles:
2012 Vital Signs report
2013 Vital Sign report.
By Pepper Parr
November 6, 2014
BURLINGTON. ON.
Local government works best when the people in the community play a meaningful role in the determination of what the tax rates should be and what the money raised is to be spent on.
Bureaucrats can`t do it all. In Burlington, many of the senior people don`t live in the city 0- their relationship with citizens is for the most part paper based and interactions at committee or Council meetings.
Burlington has a number of Advisory Committees – some work exceptionally well while others are a mess. This reporter has sat in on two Advisory Committee meetings where members were throwing copies of reports at each other.
Nicholas Leblovic. chair of the now sunset Waterfront Advisory committee. Some Advisory Committees work well – others don’t.
The city has created Advisory Committees and shut them down before they completed a full term; that was the fate of WAPA – the Waterfront Access and Protection Advisory committee that was the starting point for that startling decision of the Council that will end its tem at the end of the month.
There are Advisory Committees that do superb work – better than staff people at city hall. And there are Advisory Committees that are poorly chaired.
Who sits on the Advisory Committees?
The city runs advertisements asking for people to submit an application; they are reviewed, people are interviewed and the selections announced. The decisions of city hall staff who make the recommendations then go to Council where they are approved. There have been occasions when Council decide not to approve a particular person – that kind of a decision gets made in a closed session.
Thus the final word on who sits on those Advisory Committees is made by Council – they want to keep the trouble makers out – or do they want to ensure they will get people who will support what Council wants to see done?
Do Council members put names forward?
There are people in this city that do not agree with some of the policies city Council puts forward and they would like to see some form or organized opposition in place.
While municipal governments do not follow provincial or federal party lines – there are people who would like to see something in the way of an organization that is not specific subject based.
The Official waterfront advisory committee was shut down by the city – citizens thought it important enough to have a committee and formed something independent of city hall.
The Burlington Library is working with the city this year to put on an event that will let people learn more about the different advisory committees. The event will include committees that are not part of the civic administration.
The event: An Introduction to Boards and Committees, takes place on November 19th at the Central Library – starts at 7:00 pm. Oddly enough it doesn’t appear on the Library calendar and the city hasn’t said a word about it publicly. Disapointing.
The city has since advised that the event is n the city web site and that paid advertising is to appear soon.
While a large part of the city population lives south of the QEW – there are a lot of people north of that stretch of pavement. Why isn’t an event like this held in Alton in the recreational complex up there? This would give the people north of Dundas and those to the immediate south a chance to really participate.
Among the Boards and committees that will have representatives at the event are:
Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee
Burlington Cycling Advisory Committee
Sustainable Development Advisory Committee
Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee
Senior’s Advisory Committee
Inclusivity Advisory Committee
Mundialization Committee
Committee of Adjustment
Downtown Parking Advisory Committee
Burlington Public Library Board
Burlington Museums Board
Doors Open Volunteer Organizing Committee
Canada Day Committee Organizing Committee
Christmas Parade Committee
Bfast is an independent group that is well informed on transit matter. They delegate frequently.
We understand that BFast (Burlington For Accessible Sustainable Transit) will also have a table for people who want to be involved in transit issues.
By Pepper Parr
October 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
He is the best educated member of this city Council.
Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison always has an eye open for an economic opportunity.
He has far more real business experience than anyone else on this Council.
He knows more about property and buildings the city owns than any other member of Council and he cannot help but get right down into the weeds on almost every issue.
During a discussion on what was causing the flooding August 4th on Dryden Street Dennison explained that all staff had to do was walk out into a storm water pond and cut a couple of feet off a pipe and the flooding would stop.
Jack Dennison loves the art of a deal. He is like a used car salesman with an unsuspecting buyer – he can’t help himself.
The idea of selling the Tyandaga Golf club was being discussed and Dennison thought that was a great idea – he had worked out how many upscale houses could be built, what the take for the city would be – he couldn’t wait to take a city owned asset that frequently lost money and turn it into something that would raise cash.
Mayor Goldring didn’t like the idea – he described it as a “cash grab” which is exactly what Dennison wanted it to be. That one didn’t fly.
Dennison wants the city to stop renting space in the Simms building and add on to the existing city hall or build a new one.
Dennison wants the city to get out of the Simms building which is across the street from city hall where a number of city departments are housed. He feels we could have bought the building given the rent that has been paid in the past 10 years. Dennison wants to either add two floors to the back of city hall or get out of the city hall building, which is far from energy efficient, and put up a purpose built structure with underground parking.
Dennison got drawn into politics back when Jack Diamond, a renowned architect who was advising the city on the development of Spencer Smith Park. He was fascinated with what a city council could do – there were deals galore just waiting to be done – all with tax payers money. In those days Dennison truly wanted to make a difference.
When a development proposal comes to council and what the developer is asking for is more than the city wants to give, Dennison does everything but take his pencil to their drawings and lob off a couple of units. Never too many; just a couple to leave the area residents feeling that they at least got something.
Dennison once said that he had yet to meet a municipal bureaucrat who couldn’t figure out how to spend more than was needed.
Dennison owns a heritage home on Lakeshore Road, yet would put the Joseph Brant Museum on a raft, push it into the lake and set it ablaze. He had no interest in saving the Freeman Station.
As the owner of Cedar Springs Health Racquet and Sports Club he does a significant amount of business with the city and from time to time he declares a conflict of interest.
Dennison’s heritage home on Lakeshore Road; he made an application to sever the property – was denied and appealed to the OMB. That hearing has yet to be held.
He lives in a community (Roseland) where the voters are fully informed and up to date on what is happening and are fierce when it comes to protecting the integrity of their community.
They live in million dollar homes and they don’t want anyone trifling with the value of their property or the character of the neighbourhood they live in. Large spacious lots are the norm in Roseland and the burghers over there want to keep it that way. Thus when Dennison applied for a severance of his property with the intention of building on and then selling the new lot, he was breaking a cardinal rule in the community – you don’ take what we have going for us and lessen its value.
Roseland likes the idea of large lots along Lakeshore Road – they speak of affluence, prestige and old money.
Dennison felt he had a strong case when he made the severance application to the Committee of Adjustment but he attempted to buy a strip of land from his neighbour to the east to create a little more in the way of lot size. They refused to sell and became key players in the Carol Gottlob campaign to replace Dennison.
Jack Dennison lives in a world where there are friends who do you favours and you do them favours in return.
Dennison never understood that as a Council member he was held to a higher standard than others. He was chosen by the taxpayers to represent their interests and to resolve their problems.
Dennison didn’t understand, still doesn’t, that while he has the right to apply for an adjustment to his property – it is a right the public does not expect him to use.
The locals felt he had broken all the rules and when it looked as if he had a vote already in place at the Committee of Adjustment (COA) the Roseland burghers were apoplectic. “We’ve become a banana republic” said one attendee at a very long contentious meeting.
The Committee of Adjustment that denied the application for a severance to the Dennison property on Lakeshore Road. Was there a member of this committee that was influenced by Councillor Craven?
Dennison chose to speak for himself at the CoA meeting; not his wisest move. He had to tangle with a planner that knew the file inside out and was not going to get tripped up by a member of council no matter how slick they might be.
Ward 4 doesn’t have a community council per se. The Roseland Community Association was created to fight the attempt to sever a Hart street property – they won that battle and hope to win the Dennison appeal of a CoA decision now at the OMB. That association now has 150 members; they incorporated because they realized there were going to be other severance applications that would end up at the OMB.
Dennison gets right into issues with residents – usually knows more than anyone else in the room.
Dennison, the best friend small developers have on Council, doesn’t understand the angst of the Roseland homeowners who believe small developers see their community as their company’s inventory for their business – not a community of homes and trees. The RCO is determined to maintain the character of the area: the developers want to buy, sever, build, sell and move on to the next opportunity and in the process significantly change the character of the community.
Dennison applied for membership in the Roseland Community Association; his application was rejected and he found himself in that ignoble position of being black-balled by the people he had been elected to represent.
Dennison, like Councillor Taylor consistently pushes more tax payers dollars and grant money from the province into the infrastructure deficit but doesn’t own up to the fact that that deficit was built up during the past 20 years they were both members of council.
Dennison doesn’t flinch for a second when he reduces the portion of the gas tax payment from the province that normally goes into transit and increases what is used to “shave and pave” the city’s roads.
One sometimes thinks that Dennison sees transit as a necessary evil; for Dennison everything and everyone is supposed to pay their way. That others may fall on hard times is something Dennison understands but he doesn’t think it is the role of Council to be there to help out – usually.
Councillor Dennison lets home owners bend his ear.
But then there was the horrific flood August 4th and people needed help – and Jack Dennison was there to help. He had an election to win and he needed to get the anger over his severance application off the front page; helping people with their flood issues was just the tickets He consistently told people that he had been into more than 1000 basements – given the number of days that had passed since the flood the math didn’t support his claim.
Both Councillors Sharman and Dennison were now very active helping people who had been flooded.
These people were not going to have to get themselves out of this mess – their Council member was there to help them.
While campaigning door to door Jack found himself calling upon a woman who he had once been on city council with and was a little stunned to see a Gottlob sign on the lawn. He appeared to think that the collegiality that once experienced on Council was still in play. It wasn’t.
The 2008 recession did a lot of damage to the Burlington economy. Dennison’s sports operation relies on discretionary spending and that had been reduced significantly in thousands of Burlington households.
Cedar Springs is a large operation with fixed costs that have to be met. Tax bills from the city came in but didn’t get paid. Dennison found himself as a business person whose taxes were in arrears but serving as a member of the Council that direct staff.
There was nothing illegal about delaying the payment of taxes; funds that would have been used to pay taxes were used to cover operating costs. Cash was king and Dennison did what every business person does – you do what you have to do to stay alive.
And he did stay alive – it wasn’t easy. The business community in this city fully understood.
Dennison taking part in the Strategic Plan sessions early in this term of office.
Dennison holds his community meetings in his sports club. It used to be that if you wanted to see the ward 4 Councillor you traveled over to his office at Cedar Springs on Cumberland. During much of the 2006-2010 term Dennison didn’t have an office at city hall – felt he didn’t need one and that the job was really just part time. He didn’t have a full time assistant either – shared one with another council member.
This ward’s election issue has settled down to a battle between a candidate with no municipal experience and an incumbent with more than 20 years as a council member – and his seat is at risk.
By Pepper Parr
October 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The Gazette is doing profiles of each member of Council. They are based on four years of observations and interviews with most Council members. An overview of the ward they serve is linked to the profile.
Rick Craven; a well-entrenched incumbent facing five challengers one whose web site address is “Had enough yet?” which does say something about voter satisfaction in the most westerly ward in the city.
Question here is – can the incumbent deal with that part of the ward that is very unhappy with the way they have been dealt with?
As a Standing Committee chair, Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven is as good as it gets. Handling delegations and accepting the ideas of other people – not as good. But he wins elections.
Rick Craven is a strong administrator, who knows the Procedural bylaw manual better than anyone else at city hall – and is the strongest Standing Committee chair this Council has. He is quick with his facts and has the ability to skate around an issue better than his two colleagues who have 20 years + experience as Council members.
What Craven has in administrative capacity is weakened by his people skills; Craven isn’t comfortable with people – unless he can control them.
He chooses his issues and is unyielding once he has taken a position. He is brittle, has a sense of humour that is tough to find at times.
Our assessment of Councillor Craven is the result of watching him for the past four years, a number of lunches with him and several situations, where we reported on an event that Councillor Craven would rather not have mentioned.
Rick Craven: Best committee chair the city has; not big on the warm fuzzy stuff though. Needs a hug badly.
There was an occasion one evening at a Conservation Authority meeting when Craven said he “might take a shot at being mayor”. That came as a surprise.
More candidate than Craven could manage? Sandra Pupatello on a trip through town looking for local support for her Liberal leadership bid. Craven was prepared to let the party romance him.
What didn’t surprise us was the close look he took at a possible run for the Burlington seat at Queen’s Park. Jane McKenna ran against Craven in 2010 when she was soundly trounced. Craven was pretty sure he could trounce her again – his issue at the time was who the Premier was going to be. Sandra Pupatello, who was giving Kathleen Wynne a good run for her money at the time, met with Craven at a local Liberal event, but nothing came of it. Craven would have made a good MPP.
His strength is not in working with small groups – unless he has close to total control. The General Manager of the Aldershot Business Improvement Association doesn’t open the door to the office without calling the ward Councillor.
The Beachway residents have vowed to do everything they can to defeat Councillor Craven in the October 2014 municipal election and have designed a button they are distributing.
The Beachway residents found that they had no support whatsoever from their Councillor, when the matter of what was going to be done with the Beachway part of the waterfront, was being fiercely debated at both city council and the Region.
Craven tends to see skulduggery where there is none; he believes that developers will eventually buy up the property in the Beachway and we will see sky-high condos built along the edge of the lake close to the Hamilton border.– Jurisdictionally, the Beachway is a mess; everyone has a finger in that pie. Burlington wasn’t able to come up with a unified position on what it wanted, which left Councillor Craven promoting his view, with no input from the people who lived in that community.
Councillor Jack Dennison had some ideas on what could be done with the Beachway. That should have been given more attention. Craven didn’t really have any ideas for what is one of the most important pieces of property in the city and a vital part of the recreational element of the Region.
If Burlington doesn’t think through and have a position on what that part of the city is to be, we stand a chance of becoming a playground for the Region. Halton’s Wasaga Beach south if you will.
The residents felt they were entitled to the support of their Council member. Unfortunately he didn’t personally think they should be where they lived and would point to minor encroachments and the number of times that some pieces of property had changed hands in the recent past.
The Beachway had, still has, a small core community that fought very hard to get the Regional government to look at the location a little differently.
Councillor Craven fought hard against the 30 home owners in that community and they were justifiably upset. Tempers of a few of the residents flared – so much so that Councillor Craven felt his personal safety was in jeopardy and asked the city hall security guard to escort him to his car – which was maybe 15 yards outside the city hall door.
Councillor Craven inspecting the Pump House on the Beachway – thinks the place could serve as the Official Residence for the Ward Councillor
Councillor Craven is not a people person; he is uncomfortable listening to the small problems people have; he has a tendency to denigrate his constituents privately. There have been occasions when Beachway residents have had to appeal to a Councillor from another ward for help.
Our assessment of Councillor Craven is not as complete as we would have liked it to be. Walter Byj, a freelance reporter with the Gazette asked for an interview with Craven on several occasions:
August 22nd- wrote e-mail to assistant Kathi requesting an interview for the Burlington Gazette.
Sept. 5th- sent follow-up e-mail to Kathi re request for interview. Received reply that as a city employee, she can not organize any election related events. Advised that she would forward my request to Craven.
Sept. 9th- sent e-mail directly to Craven asking for an interview and have not received a reply.
It is irresponsible for a Councillor to make themselves available when they like what is being written, but become unavailable when they don’t like what is written. It is small, petty and unbecoming an elected official; there is a higher standard for those chosen to lead.
Plains Road; an old highway transitions into a vibrant urban main street.
Craven is immensely proud of the work he has done in the 14 years he has served on Council representing the Aldershot residents. Plains Road has been vastly improved and while it has been a struggle – in time the development that Plains Road needs will settle in Aldershot. It will not happen easily – the smallest change to the community upsets the older population as well as people who just plain don’t want change in their community.
Craven at least understands that change is both inevitable and necessary. While the city shared the development of the King Road grade separation – Craven wanted everyone to know that with that road more open to traffic, new business would work its way to the area. He is immensely proud of the grade separation.
Councillor Craven is not a popular person – warm and cuddly he ain’t. He is though, the best Standing Committee chair this city council has and he knows the procedural manual better than anyone else – including the current city clerk.
When it is to his advantage Councillor Craven will dress for the occasion. He wanted people to know that he was truly local at this heritage event.
There are those in the community however, who want a Councillor who is:
open; approachable; empathetic; trustworthy; ethical; can be believed without reservation; representative of all residents’; someone who can differentiate between concerns and interests impartially and neutrally; not appearing to possess and pursue a personal agenda regardless of residents views; ensures openness, transparency and accountability in his own dealings and at City Hall in general; faithfully carries out their sworn and legislated responsibilities and duties; actively promotes meaningful citizen engagement in decision-making; shares authority for decision-making; is cost effective and benefits conscious – recognizes the difference between needs and wants.
There is talk out there that the incumbent is lacking in some of these.
Residents would like a Ward 1 Citizens Advisory Committee that meets regularly to open up the raising, discussion and debating issues. This is distinct from the present Aldershot information meetings the Council member holds where the flow of information is one way – from him to them.
Gary Milne, a candidate for the ward 1 seat sums it up quite well with his web site: www.hadenoughyet.ca
Burlington Councillors Rick Craven and Marianne Meed Ward supported Liberal candidate Karmel Sakran during press event. One of the very few occasions, when the two pose for the camera together.
Ward 2 councillor Marianne Meed Ward runs a very robust and effective Ward Council, which she listens and reports to – she sees her ward council as the group that keeps her focused and grounded. Residents of Aldershot would very much like to see such an organization.
Councillor Craven attended one of the Meed Ward’s community council meetings – but none of what gets done in ward 2 seemed to rub off on the ward 1 Councillor.
The Aldershot Business Improvement Association is far from an arm’s length organization. Councillor Craven determines what gets done and when it is going to get done; General manager Bob Meehan follows.
There are residents in Aldershot, who want Openness, Transparency and Accountability- they are not likely to see much as long as Craven represents the ward – it just isn’t his personal style. There is an older population that is comfortable with the authority Craven projects; that is a large part of his core vote.
Councillor Craven sits beside Councillor Meed Ward at city council meetings – it is frequently an uncomfortable time for both. He can’t stand her and she has no time for him. Craven can be crass and mean at times. He has been known to give delegators to city council a very difficult time – and if it happens to be someone from his ward that he crosses swords with – they don’t get the courtesies one expects from a person with some authority.
Townsend Ave., which runs parallel to Plains Road on the south side is an example of what many think is the incumbent’s pet project and has been since before 2008; residents only found out about it by accident at a meeting on the Presbyterian church site application in 2010.
The problem on Townsend started out as a speeding issue that could have been fixed with a stop sign. Some residents, including Tom Muir, who lives on the street, think Craven wants to make Townsend Ave an overflow for heavy traffic from Plains Rd. Muir believes that is the plan and what current planning discussions suggest. Muir is quick to add that he lives on Townsend.
A number of residents talk about term limits and feel that after three terms, a council member should hang up their spurs and make room for new blood. In Aldershot the sense that many have is that other than the election, there is really no apparent way for them to hold their Councillor accountable. Between elections a council member can do what they want.
Rick Craven knows his ward, has his own agenda which he doesn’t share with everyone in his community. Is there a life beyond city hall for Craven?
Greg Woodruff, currently running for the Chair of Regional Council, with no experience, said he chose that route to get some issues on the table. “Why didn’t I run against Councillor Craven? I didn’t have a hope of winning.” He doesn’t have a hope of defeating Regional Chair Gary Carr either, but the point is made – there are people very frustrated over the leadership they are getting, but find they have not been able to organize effectively to bring about a change.
Tom Muir, one of the residents who was prepared to go on record said: “Craven will point out that I have my opinion, but others have theirs; however he adds, there is no forum, where these different opinions are revealed, just his assertions. “Then he does, what he wants behind this cover of contrived controversy. This is a general thing, and he uses it to dismiss views he doesn’t want.”
Muir says Craven is “willing to distort demographics and traffic counts and cut corners to get what he wants or to defend a position; he is not one to advocate transparency.”
Muir adds that there was a time, when he voted for Craven. He now thinks that term limits are a good idea.
There are a number of issues in the ward that came up during the term of Council that is ending, that highlight the approach Councillor Craven takes to situations.
Eagle Heights is still nowhere near a start date; the Bridgepoint idea made it to Council, but Craven couldn’t move it forward as much as an inch; it was outside the urban boundary and nothing was going to happen.
Craven is delighted with the memory stick that has a city budget on it – he has a very strong grasp of the city’s finances.
The community is still waiting for a supermarket and an LCBO outlet. The supermarket was going to follow the growth in population that projects, like the multi-tower Drewlo apartment complex were expected to deliver. They then learned that Drewlo is not made up of families – so no supermarket yet.
The owners of the Murray variety store at Waterdown and Plains Road, were told that the city needed some of their property to widen Waterdown Road
Hearings were held, the hearing officer found that the city didn’t need all the land they were asking for – didn’t matter – all the property was expropriated by the city.
Just north of the variety store there is a branch of the Royal Bank that has a lease which will expire soon.
The Lee family had property they owned expropriated. City didn’t need all the land – but took it anyway. Councillor Craven didn’t say a word during the council discussion.
Further up Waterdown, at Masonry Court, the Paletta interests sold a large piece of land to Adi Development for a reported sum of $14 million. Masonry Court is yards south of the GO station.
Waterdown leads right into the 403.
The city needed just part 1 – they took part two as well because they could – reasons for doing so were made behind closed doors. The owners were never told why.
Property at the corner of Plains Road and Waterdown would be seen as prime real estate. The Korean family that owned the property was prepared to sell what the city needed. They were prepared to sign off on the sale of property to expedite the actual property title transfer so the road widening could begin.
City chose to expropriate and did so on July 14th. Councillor Craven didn’t say a single word on behalf of his constituents during the discussion nor did he ask any questions of their legal counsel.
The city needed land for the reconstruction and widening of Waterdown Road between Plains Road and Masonry Court including the provisions of full municipal services. It needs to buy property to do that work. Vito Tolone, Senior Transportation Planner in the Engineering Department testified at a Hearing of Necessity that “as presently configured, Waterdown Road will not be able to accommodate the travel demand growth anticipated by 2031″
Mr. Tolone testified that sometime between Environmental Assessment (EA) (December 6, 2006) and the Notice of Expropriation being served on the land owner on or about March 24, 2014 the City of Burlington decided that it was desirable that the City expropriate more land than required to perform the scope of the work contemplated in the EA document. On that basis, the City seeks a full expropriation of the Lee property.
Having your property taken from you when all the evidence indicates that all of the land is not needed is as drastic as state intervention can get. The Lee’s did not want to give up all their property yet their Council member did not say a single word during the public session of that July 14th public meeting. He did not ask questions of the Lees when they delegated nor did he asks questions of their lawyer when he delegated.
Council did go into a Closed Session that evening but we’ve no idea what, if anything, Councillor Craven said.
Since that July meeting we learn that the Royal Bank lease is up for renewal and that Adi Development has purchased a large swath of land for $14 million from the Paletta interests. There is certainly a lot of development going on in ward 1 – but the Lees are not going to be a part of it.
For Councillor Craven the opening of the King Road grade separation was like a parade: he understood the development potential possible from the better flow of traffic.
Citizens in Burlington are moving beyond the practice of sending someone to city council to represent them and having that person make all the decisions without any input from the broader community. Public participation in the decision making process has evolved and now calls for a level of transparency and collaboration that some have difficulty with
Burlington has a Public Engagement Charter which Councillor Craven is aware of but not comfortable with. He does know that procedural manual inside out though.
Link to Lee expropriation
By Pepper Parr
October 24, 2104
BURLINGTON, ON
It is the ward that current MP Mike Wallace ran in; it is the ward that Current Mayor Rick Goldring ran in and it is the ward currently served by Paul Sharman who is completing his first term as an elected official.
It is a diverse ward with that doesn’t have the patch of affluence in the south end that wards 4 and 2 have. It does have communities that were poorly planned – no fault of Sharman’s – that have significant parking problems.
The ward runs from Appleby to Burloak – Dundas to the Lake.
The plaza at Appleby and New Street could be a challenge – depending on how one looks at the building of high rise towers. The First Capital project will certainly go a long way to producing the housing units the city has to come up with to meet the province’s Places to Grow intensification mandate.
There is a considerable amount of Employment Lands in the ward as well – much of it owned by the Paletta interests. While Sharman has been a member of the board of the Economic Development Corporation we’ve not heard much from him or seen much in the way of leadership in developing the property along Mainway and Harvester Road that run through the ward.
Nothing either on what could be done with the large tract of land on Upper Middle Road where it joins Burloak.
The economic engines of Burlington are located for the most part on Mainway, Harvester and that clutch of buildings at Burloak and the QEW. Has Paul Sharman manged to have any influence on how the economy and the job growth of this has been shaped during his first for years on Council?
There is a significant senior’s population in the ward that Councillor Sharman has catered to but he hasn’t delivered all that much for that demographic.
The Skyway Plaza in the east end is in desperate need of an upgrade but no one at council or at city hall can get through to the owner. Despite Sharman’s producing a staff direction nothing has come of the various efforts. Is there something going on in the background? Is there going to be a surprise announcement? Probably not at this point but that plaza does need serious attention.
The Appleby arena is in the ward; there isn’t a hockey parent in the city that isn’t unhappy with the way the place is scheduled but there is nothing any member of Council could do to keep those parents happy.
There has been some excellent small scale development at Dundas/Appleby cluster and quite a bit of development at Dundas and Appleby.
The major development at the top of the ward – at Sutton and Dundas has managed to get out of the planning department and past city council to the Ontario Municipal Board.
In May of this year the city chose to oppose the applications for Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments, submitted on behalf of Adi Development Group Inc., to permit a mixed use development consisting of 298 residential units in four connected apartment buildings and 1249 m2 of ground floor commercial development. That project is now at the Ontario Municipal Board where there is a settlement that has not yet been signed off on yet.
The Planning department was the lead on this – there didn’t appear to be much input from the Council member.
It is going to be a large project – the OMB will make the decision probably based on agreements that are already in place.
Council supported a modified approval of the applications for Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendments to permit a mixed use development at the southeast corner of Dundas Street and Sutton Drive in accordance with the revisions recommended by planning staff.
On January 2, 2014, the city received an appeal of the Official Plan Amendment and rezoning applications, submitted by the applicant, for council’s failure to make a decision on the applications within the 180 and 120 day time frames in the Planning Act.
The record of the applications are now before the Ontario Municipal Board. The Ontario Municipal Board held a hearing on June 24, 2014 that was scheduled for four days – lasted just two. Minutes of settlement have been prepared and agreed upon – the city now awaits a decision from the OMB.
During the various deliberations there wasn’t all that much heard from Councillor Sharman. We did hear him talk about the need for more space between the project – which is very large in scale and the houses to the south.
We did hear from Sharman on the need for better security along the pathway beside Bronte Creek. One never got the sense that the council member for the ward was really in charge of; leading and directing the growth in his ward.
A project of this size and significance in ward 1 would have Councillor Craven’s finger prints all over it – that level of involvement doesn’t seem to be the way things are done in ward 5.
Yet when it comes to the budget or the need for better, more detailed data – Paul Sharman is all over the discussion. He would appear to be more comfortable with paper and numbers than he is with people.
In his campaign literature Sharman sets out what he feels he has done.
John W. Boich Public School surplus land parkette in The Orchard was approved after much community involvement. Getting started has taken a year longer than expected because contaminated soil found on the site had to be removed. I expect work will begin in spring 2015.
Parking changes that he promoted in Uptown and The Orchard that allow overnight parking, coupled with the city wide on road increase from 3 hours to 5 hours, have been well received. However, a change that was made with insufficient community engagement banned parking on the apron, perpendicular to the road. This has caused significant, unnecessary disruption and many tickets and needs to be permitted. Community members are circulating petitions for change, which I support.
Lakeside Plaza is a blight on the delightful neighbourhoods of south east Burlington. I asked and obtained council agreement to direct staff to contact the owner about making improvements. As a result, the owner has approached the City to discuss possibilities for redevelopment. Preliminary plans call for residential and retail mixed use. It will be a while before we hear anything official.
It is an arena badly in need of an updte. There was discussion about a plan to roll the arena into a package that would see a major upgrade done to a part of the city that needs an economic shot in the arm.
I asked staff to evaluate how Skyway Arena might be improved to better serve the community in which it is located. Someone misinterpreted that as meaning it should be sold. The possibilities for Skyway Park/Arena include additions of a library branch, seniors centre, community meeting rooms and a transit hub, which should be designed to work well with the redevelopment of Lakeside Plaza.
The First Capital proposal doesn’t have the blessing of the ward Councillor – he doesn’t want kids to have to play in a supermarket parking lot.
Appleby Mall proposed towers are unacceptable to me and community members. Apart from all the other concerns, the idea of raising hundreds of children in a parking lot is really troublesome.
ADI development at Sutton and Dundas has been a problem since it was first discussed. At the outset I held community meetings to review developer proposals. I have always opposed the plans because of height, density, traffic and congestion concerns. Those concerns led to the development application process to be slowed down. The developer then asked the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) to intervene, effectively taking the matter out of Councils hands. In an attempt to settle at the OMB, ADI negotiated increased setbacks with City staff. We still await the OMB final ruling. Irrespective, the development is still going to be a source of much discomfort for existing community members. Meanwhile ADI have recently filed a site plan with about 290 units, 3 x6 story and 1x 4 story building.
The debate between the delegator and the Council member on this project on Pineland was memorable. The delegator ended up being the candidate and James Smith is now running against Paul Sharman
By working with the community we accomplished significant changes to be made from what was originally proposed for Pinedale Plaza. Those changes made it more acceptable to the community. Neighbours are understandably frustrated with the amount of time it is taking to get things moving, they want it finished.
Combined 4 year City, Region and education property tax increase on your household bill 2011-2014 was 6.2% inclusive of funding for the Hospital. City budget increases of 12.7% including the hospital levy were offset by assessment growth in Region of Halton and education budgets. Total council pay increase for the last four years was 5.75%. Council pay increase calculations are very thoughtfully determined by an advisory committee, which stops Councillors from meddling.
Council is investing in Burlington Transit (BT), despite what some people like to say. Smaller buses have been purchased and Council voted, this year, to spend $2m to implement software that will, amongst other things, allow management to track buses and analyze where people get on and off buses. This information was not available previously. In 2012, Council was advised that BT operating performance was the worst in its peer group of 13 other municipalities. I support good transit management and future investments in a good transit plan when staff is able to provide one.
The flood became a political issue that the Council members for wards 4 and 5 didn’t know quite how to handle. It was a Regional matter and Burlington’s city Council doesn’t have much in the way of clout at the Region.
Damage to both the property and the lives of the people whose homes were flooded got turned into the base on which an election campaign was built. Sharman tried very hard to get something going at the Regional level but that organization has chosen to be unresponsive.
Will that change after the election? If Sharman is re-elected will he manage to make a difference at the Regional level. Try as he might – he hasn’t managed to get the Region to respond to the needs of his community – so far.
Related material:
Paul Sharman: An assessment.
By Pepper Parr and Walter Byj
October 24, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Although his venture into local politics was somewhat by accident, the past four years have whetted his appetite and he now wants an additional four more years as the Councillor for ward 5.
Paul Sharman served on the Shape Burlington Committee along with Lancaster. He was a bit of a “bull in a china shop” with that organization and brought the trait along with him when he got elected to Council.
In a recent conversation with the Gazette, Paul Sharman reflected on his current term and shared his thoughts for the future of Burlington. With the analytical mind of an accountant (he was in the top 100 influential people in American accounting circles for the years of 2005, 2006 and 2007) and a strong advocate of a strong and sustainable community, Sharman continues to weigh the practical vs idealistic.
He was against the changes proposed for Sherwood Park in its bid as a training field for the Pan Am Games as he believed it would bring more light and noise pollution to the neighbourhood.
He also wants to remove any plans that would extend Fairview Street to Burloak as this could potentially stream additional traffic into the neighbourhood. Ward five is now facing aging infrastructure in both its roads and facilities.
Although Centennial pool has been modernized, the Skyway Arena requires a badly needed facelift. And the local Lakeside Plaza needs renovating, but that is a private matter.
As the communities to the north and east of Burlington keep expanding, fiscal sustainability and community management should be a major focus for Burlington. Although Burlington will experience minimal population growth relative to the other municipalities in the Region, the half a million additional neighbouring residents could easily put a strain on our infrastructure through attending our various festivals or the increase of our commercial base. As a member of the Burlington Economic Development Corporation, Sharman is committed to bringing business growth into Burlington and wants to ensure that the added traffic can be handled.
Asked if the re-election of the provincial Liberal party would be an asset to Burlington, he felt that they are more sensitive to the needs of municipalities but he is awaiting the Ontario go forth strategy.
As all governments struggle to secure funds, especially municipalities, Sharman was asked if Burlington should have more taxing powers to help cover costs. An emphatic no was his response as he felt that Canadians are taxed enough already. “We need to make better use of the funds that we now have.”
With transit in the GTA being a major concern, was Sharman favourable to the daily 15 minute GO service. In some ways he said it might be counterproductive as he wants more Burlington residents working in Burlington and not commuting to Toronto. He has the same conflict with the proposed new provincial highway through Niagara and north of Burlington. He understands the need to protect the Niagara escarpment and the unique status of the Mt. Nemo plateau, yet he worries how the huge increase in traffic along the QEW will affect Burlington. He acknowledges that different modes of transport should be studied, but we still seem to be an automobile based society.
Sharman and former Burlington Transit Director Donna Shepherd never did have a close working relationship. Did this contribute to her retirement?
In the same vein, Sharman said “we need to come up with a better plan for Burlington transit. The current system is not effective. We need to design a system that is sensitive to the needs of our community”. New software that has been acquired by the city will enable the planners to get a better understanding of the traffic patterns of the current riders and this will enable to build a transit system that will be unique to Burlington using the proper equipment.”
Asked why the voters should return him to council, he cited his former high level managerial positions that allow him to view tasks from a macro perspective thus allowing for a better overall viewpoint.
Frank McKeown, then the Mayors Chief of Staff explains a concept to Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman. McKeown was described as the 7th council member during the Strategic Plan sessions. He is now the Executive Director of the Economic Development Corporation of which Sharman has been a city representative
Responding to a fanciful question of what would he do if a huge amount of money, with no strings attached, suddenly appeared before city council, he responded that he would initially put the money in reserves. “We don’t need more stuff” he said. Rather he would want to spend the cash prudently on projects that will continue to have Burlington remain as the best mid-size city in Canada. Spoken as a true accountant.
This ward is very healthy from a political perspective. There are now at least two grass roots groups that are angry and want to see something done. Both groups are made up of some pretty smart people who can’t be managed.
Trying to lead a community devastated by the August 4th flood, Sharman struggles to meet the needs of his constituents when he has to work with a Regional Council that isn’t all that forthcoming with information.
The grass roots groups don’t want to hear excuses – they want results and Sharman, through no fault of his own, is not able to deliver all that much. His management style makes it difficult for him to cope with people who are pressing their issue.
There are people in ward five that do not yet have furnaces in their homes and they do not know what the different levels of municipal government can do for them.
It was Councillor Sharman who always asked the tough question. He was always very direct and had a penchant for data others at times did not understand.
Sharman works as well as he can with the several community groups that have formed. These are people who are angry and want something done. Sharman often ends up differing with the people he wants to serve. His approach and style is to bull forward and get things done, however he is to a large degree stymied by the process, the difficulty getting anything from the Regional level.
Sharman held a community meeting at a local church and chose to tell media that it was a closed event. It wasn’t; he just didn’t want media in the room.
The ward has some significant issues: transit, parking, particularly in the Orchard Park community. There is a major development in the northern part of the ward that slipped out of the hands of the planning department and is now at the Ontario Municipal Board.
There has been absolutely no movement on the development potential for the plaza in the eastern part of the ward despite the significant effort on both Sharman’s part and that of senior city hall staff.
Has Paul Sharman made a difference in his ward during his first term? It is difficult to point to a list of things that were achieved. He has done better work than most of the council members have at the Region. He has worked with residents to resolve their parking problems.
Sharman speaks of his involvement on the Steering Committee of the Shape Burlington initiative but there has been precious little follow through on real engagement with the residents; Sharman isn’t an engagement kind of guy. He tends to want to lead and expect people to follow because he truly believes he knows what is best for others.
The Freeman Station – settled into its new home and now in the process of being completely restored.
His handling of the Freeman station issue was as close to shameful as a member of an elected body can get. He was patronizing to most of the people who delegated on that issue. Sharman couldn’t see a way for the station to be saved; we were never sure if he wanted it saved. The previous council had federal funds to restore the structure but bickered with everyone and ended up not being able to find a place to put it. The formation of a community group that would not give up, saved the structure and today the Freeman station sits on a site beside the Fire Station where community volunteers are in the process of restoring the building. Should Councillor Sharman be re-elected one hopes that he will not take part in the official opening.
Sharman is an avid cyclist. – “this is why I am a city Councillor of this city”.
The closing note on the Sharman Freeman station position was heard when James Smith announced his intention to run in ward five; Smith was the president of the Friends of Freeman Station and deserves much of the credit for creating the team that spearheaded the drive to save the building.
James Smith is a real contender. Sharman doesn’t have the two and three term experience that other council members have – and while he has been doing decent ward constituency work – he hasn’t developed a following in the way that Meed Ward has.
During his first year on Council Sharman bullied his colleagues into a 0 % tax increase and let staff know that he was not one to trifle with.
In his second and third years he became quite a bit closer to the Mayor who came to rely on Sharman for a lot of his strategic thinking.
Councillor Sharman has held two public sessions with Senior’s as part of his effort to understand their needs and develop policy that Council can put in place to serve this vital community. At most of the sessions Sharman holds his Dad is often in the audience.
Paul Sharman has done a lot of work with the senior’s community. He has held several town hall type meetings and gathered a lot of data – but we’ve yet to see anything concrete come out of the data collection.
Sharman has been a city member of the Economic Development Corporation for much of this term of council. He was fully aware of the problems with the Executive Director at the time but, like the rest of the board, went along with delay after delay of removing the Executive Director from office and letting the board find the direction it needed.
The executive capacity that Sharman attempts to exude just isn’t publicly evident.
In 2010 there were seven candidates. Sharman won with 1,503 votes. Cal Millar came in second with 1,327 votes. James Smith came in third with 1190 votes, Peggy Russell came in fourth with 1163 votes. Serge Beraldo, Paul Keselman and Dave Kumar all got less than 1000 votes each,
Cal Millar is now working on the Smith campaign – the bulk of those votes will probably go to Smith.
Few of the Peggy Russell votes are going to go to Sharman.
Sharman is a numbers man – “give me the data” he will bellow. The data suggests that Paul Sharman could be in serious trouble.
Related material:
Ward 5: Problems and possibilities
By Ray Rivers
October 23, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Hamilton used to be the second largest city in Ontario, with a powerful football team showcasing its importance, and vying with Toronto for status. But growth, driven by the steel industry, started to dry up in the late 60’s as Ontario’s economy became more complex and service-oriented, and overseas markets started to replace our home-grown metal products.
Today ‘Steel Town’ is only the fifth most populous city in the province and with a slagging growth rate, compared to, say, Milton. Oh, and the Tiger Cats lost the Grey Cup to the Rough Riders last year.
Like other rust-belt cities around the Great Lakes, Hamilton has seen its core decline and the surrounding suburbs mushroom over the decades since WWII. And it would be unfair to blame the city’s decay solely on the changing economy. Decisions by small-minded councils over the years have inadvertently helped bury potential recovery by favouring urban sprawl and the automobile over downtown development. For example, despite a proud history of public service rivalling that of Toronto’s transit system, the Hamilton Street Railway is, today, a railway in name only.
Barton Street and the rest of the older area of Hamilton could easily be mistaken for somewhere in Cleveland, Buffalo, or maybe even Detroit – the other once great cities bordering the Great Lakes. And as further consequence, most of Hamilton’s tax base is residential today, whereas it once included a more diversified mix including more industrial and commercial. As a result residential property taxes are among the highest in the province.
Other economic health indicators such as unemployment, welfare levels and average incomes are also less than favourable. So, it is no wonder that Hamilton has some of the most competitively priced housing in the so-called Golden Horseshoe. Old Ancaster, Dundas and Westdale communities, which are exceptional places to live, can be contrasted with the dilapidated city core and all of that mindless urban sprawl in farm country.
This Monday, voters in the City will elect a new council and mayor. Of the twelve candidates running for mayor, only three are really in contention. I met with leading candidate, and a former mayor (2006-2010), Fred Eisenberger and also with councillor Brian McHattie.
Both of these candidates have extensive experience in city politics and are aware of the challenges ahead for Hamilton and themselves should they be elected. I sensed that both mostly shared a common vision of what is required for the city to break from the past and move towards a brighter future.
For example, they agree on the need to re-develop the downtown. That means support for what they hope will be a provincially funded light rail transit system (LRT), to do for King Street what the subway did for Yonge Street in Toronto. Redevelopment of the the downtown and waterfront are key to bringing people back into the city core, but transit is essential to avoid the kind of gridlock issues currently facing Toronto.
McHattie highlighted the need for political leadership – a council speaking with one voice, particularly essential when dealing with the Province and the development industry. And McHattie is also the real ‘green’ candidate, opposing urban sprawl, pushing additional bikeways and even greater availability of transit to replace the pedestrian unfriendly automobile.
Hamilton is discovering new business opportunity in its emerging arts sector with regular arts and music ‘crawls’ – an attraction to scores of city dwellers who rarely venture out at nighttimes otherwise, compared to those in other cities. Call it cause and effect – more people downtown means more demand for commercial services, and then more services mean more incentive for people to come and live downtown.
Councillor Brad Clark, a former Mike Harris MPP, didn’t respond to my requests for a meeting. Although a one-time supporter of an LRT, he appears to have flipped on this issue and is currently pushing for more roadways, and thus more cars and eventual gridlock. I also had the pleasure of chatting with Brother Reverend Michael Baldaraso of the Church of the Universe, another would-be mayor.
Brother Michael is well known for his promotion of legalized marijuana, which he insists is a sacrament in his one-man ministry. Having run in an endless string of campaigns trying to get elected for something, including leadership of the former federal Progressive Conservatives and Alliance parties, Reverend Badasaro is active and well-liked by his community in the old city core where he lives.
Baldasaro has offered some innovative suggestions into the mayors debate, including an alternate design for the LRT and the creation of an oversight committee of also-ran politicians, to keep the newly elected council’s feet to the fire. Oh and his industrial vision for the city includes the production of that whacky weed, as we’d expect.
Aldershot, once part of Hamilton (Wentworth County) seceded to join Burlington in the early 1970’s. Then when the Harris government decided to forcibly amalgamate the new city of Hamilton, over a decade ago, many outlying residents would have traded their first-born to also join Burlington. But Harris needed the regional communities’ taxes in order to pay for his downloaded provincial social services in Hamilton.
Today, nobody believes that the ‘egg’ of amalgamation will be unscrambled, and the city decentralized as it functioned before. But disaffected voters would be a lot happier in this election were someone elected who could lift the city out of its troubled past and towards a brighter and better future. If you can believe the politicians whom I spoke with, that may well be within our grasp.
Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington where he ran against Cam Jackson in 1995, the year Mike Harris and the Common Sense Revolution swept the province.
Background links:
Hamilton History More Hamilton Eisenberger McHattie
Clark
Baldasaro Transit
Urban Renewal Baldasaro’s LRT Aldershot
By Greg Woodruff
October 23, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
I would like to share with you my experience while running for the Halton Regional Chair. Could the population and elected officials please pull your heads out of the sand?
The government of Ontario is insisting via “Intensification” that hundreds of thousands of new residents are housed on top of us. In a recent meeting Colin Best chastised me because I was only sighting the short term figure of 250,000 more people and thought we better prepare for 500,000 more. That is a doubling of our population. This is the only comment I’ve heard throughout the entire campaign which shows engagement on the massive transformation imposed on us by the Ontario government.
Do I think radically transforming stable communities via Intensification is a good idea? No. I think it’s totally unfair, wreck-less and undemocratic. But since the decision is above the pay grade of the Regional Chair; let’s do this transformation in a way that retains our character and standard of living. We need to stand up and negotiate with the Ontario government for the tools and funds we need to pull this off. However, the reality is they are not asking us about increased density – they are telling. They have all the legal authority they need and a guaranteed mechanism via the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).
The OMB is not a court deciding what is “fair”. It’s a body designed to overrule the entire municipal government if the City attempts to block a development. The Mayor, Councillors, City Staff and master plans all become instantly and totally irrelevant when the City looses at the OMB. Forget “Controlling Growth” you can’t even “Direct Growth” if the OMB decides against you. This is why developers have proposed a 28 story building in down town Burlington in a space clearly marked for 8 stories maximum. They don’t think the residents, City Council or City Staff have any say in the matter at all.
Unless we get vice-like control of the development process the City can direct nothing and the city will become a grey congested mess. If any developer can descend on any chance piece of land and slap up a massive building how can you plan transportation and transit? The increased density will be scattered around making transit planning impossible and the car will remain as the only practical way around. The city will end up with business all concentrated in a few areas then endless apartment blocks in others. It’s not as if Halton will suddenly fold. It will just be a grey area filled with massive roads.
I’ve heard little about what to do from candidates. The whole place is going to undergo a massive change in the upcoming years and the election is the most important mechanism for residents to shape a brand new city. Where is the debate on this topic? Worse yet mistaken ideas are often repeated and go unchallenged.
A mistake I’ve often heard is that to attract business into an area you need to increase the local population. The local population doesn’t matter – the population in a businesses “Trading Area” does. This is a function of how quickly and conveniently a resident can access a business. People make choices based on “time” not “distance”. It’s important because when you make an area congested with traffic the “Trading Area” will shrink.
Though a business will get access to 600 new customers in a new development it will loose access to 6,000 others. It doesn’t matter if people walk, bike, take buses, rail or drive, but the speed of movement matters greatly. Larger businesses aware of the phenomena will jump out of the congested area and cluster around each other. Single owner businesses attempt to populate store fronts for a while, but the lack of surrounding larger stores will sewer them eventually. This phenomena is well on it’s way in Aldershot. Checkout Clappisons Corners if you doubt this analysis.
Another often repeated mistake is that “active transit” and buses will solve our transit problems. Places with high rates of non-car transit have massive investments in public transit. The cities of Europe have subways, pedestrian only paths, dedicated bike lanes, etc and still have tremendous traffic and congestion. None of these mitigations are even on the drawing board in Halton. I didn’t hear a word from any candidate on how to create these alternate methods of transportation. Remember a 100% increase in the population means 100% more cars unless you provide alternate methods of transport.
This increased density is coming and every elected official better have a plan and ideas on how to manage it. My preferred notion is “horizontal zoning” where high value commercial space is required at ground level. Every approved building without this forever deepens our transit woes. This is only one piece of what needs to be a comprehensive and forward thinking plan. Please ask your Councillor “How do you intend to deal with the massive increase in population mandated in Halton?” Please factor in the responses when voting.
Greg Woodruff is a candidate for Chair of Halton Region
By Pepper Parr
October 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The ward covers the eastern half of rural Burlington and tracts that run from Hwy 407 down to Upper Middle Road and includes the well-established communities of Millcroft and Headon. The newly created Alton community brought much more diversity into the ward and small pockets of development along the 407.
There isn’t much in the way of industry in the ward; The Hanson Brick Works operates at Dundas Street, there are a lot of commercial operations but all are small in nature. Emery Developments decided to build two five storey towers attached to each other with a two storey atrium at Palladium Way. The intention of the developer is to build on speculation. They were confident enough that the market was there for their offering and expected some occupancy in late 2015.
Staff recommended a Mixed Use plan but indicated that if council selects the all Employment option, staff are able to support this, but cannot support an All Residential option
The Krpan Group project at Dundas and Tremaine is stuck at the OMB – residents have heard very little about this project which has a number of features and approaches to development that are worth paying attention to – but they don’t appear to have any traction in the mind of the Council member for the ward
There was to be a new court house for provincial offences in the war but that disappeared just as fast as it appeared when local opposition spring up without the ward Councillor knowing all that much about the plans.
There isn’t a ward council – that kind of citizen involvement doesn’t sit all that well with the Council member; it would mean sharing the power a member of Council has and attracting meaningful input from the community.
Millcroft and Headon are strong communities that with few problems. Snow removal, road repairs – the usual municipal services are what they ask for – just keep our taxes down.
Dundas Street is due for a very significant upgrade and a widening that will make it a much different road than it is today – it isn’t clear yet what kind of development it will attract. The Region expects to run busses along that road as part of an inter-city transit offering at some point. That is years away but the work needed to create an additional east west road has been made at the Regional level – so Dundas get upgraded
Part of the massive gym set up in the Haber Recreation Centre
The opening of the Hayden Recreational Centre, the Frank Hayden High School and a new branch of the library system created a community that pulled itself together very quickly and managed to produce three South Asian candidates for the ward seat.
Transit is not yet a significant issue – most of the seniors are at a point in their lives where they still drive their cars. The demographic of that cohort will shift significantly in the next ten years and the need for more in the way of community services geared to seniors and transit service that will let them get to different places in the city will become evident.
The Air Park is both a problem and a significant opportunity but at this point any ideas that are being discussed come from the mind of Vince Rossi who has yet to provide anything in the way of a business. Rossi has been able to get away with dumping land fill without the required permits because no one, including Blair Lancaster, paid much attention – they bought the argument that the air park was federally regulated and no one asked any questions.
There is an opportunity to do something with the 200 acre property that fits in with an Air Park and the rural setting – no one has come up with anything yet. Not the Economic Development Corporation, not the Region, not the city – not even the people who live in the eastern half of rural Burlington.
Background links:
The ward Councillor: an assessment.
By Pepper Parr
October 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette is doing profiles of each member of Council. They are based on four years of observations and interviews with most Council members. An overview of the ward they serve is linked to the profile.
Walter Byj, a free lance writer who contributes to the Gazette regularly, was to do a part of this article but he was unable to reach Councillor Lancaster to do an interview. Byj called on:
July 21st -sent e-mail to her assistant requesting an interview for the Burlington Gazette. Assistant Julie advised that Blair was out of office and that she would follow up next week.
August. 22nd- sent follow up request to assistant Julie. Got reply back on August 25th. stating she was on vacation last week and that she would advise Blair.
Sept. 4th.- sent e-mail to assistant stating that I assumed that Blair did not want to be interviewed.
Sept. 9- sent e-mail to Blair asking for an interview, have never heard back.
Getting an appointment with Blair Lancaster has never been easy. While media savvy Ms Lancaster often avoids media or gets others to do the avoiding for her.
Ward 6 Councillor Blair Lancaster thinking through the answer to a question. Tends to be cautious.
The Gazette organized a debate of all ten candidates in ward six. We got an email from Brenda McKinley saying she was representing a candidate but did not want to say who and asked if there could be another moderator and if the questions asked of one candidate could be put to every candidate.
Ms McKinley said they did not want the publisher of the Gazette serving as moderator and suggested someone from the Chamber of Commerce. We declined the request. We later learned that Brenda McKinley, the person making the request, was Blair Lancaster’s sister. The sneakiness was seen on too many occasions.
One of our very first interactions with Blair Lancaster was during a break when the Strategic Plan was being developed back in 2010. While walking towards the table with the coffee urns Blair Lancaster asked if “there wasn’t something we could do about Marianne Meed Ward”. At that point in time council members were trying to get used to the Meed Ward style. We were never quite sure what Ms Lancaster wanted us to do.
Blair Lancaster led a large part of the public meeting at which the Niagara Greater Toronto Area (NGTA) highway was discussed at the Mainway Arena. It was a very large crowd and keeping the emotions in check was not a simple task. Lancaster showed that she could handle crowds that were at times unruly.
Lancaster was the first member of Council to declare a conflict of interest on a financial matter. The Downtown Core Vision was being discussed and Lancaster took the position that she had a commercial business and therefore stood to gain if the city did anything. She left her Council seat and sat in the public gallery. The Spa she owned was closed a few years later. There was no financial gain.
Several weeks later Councillor Dennison did the same thing – which shocked everyone at the media table.
The Photo Op – Artist Alex Pentek on the left, displays a portion of the Orchid to Councillors Sharman and Lancaster. Lancaster argues the art is not in her ward.
Lancaster has a pluckiness to her – she can be quick with a remark that you may not like and leaves you with the sense that she isn’t one to trifle with – and then she backs away from real issues.
There is a message when nine candidates file nomination papers for a seat held by a single term council member. A lot of people feel they can do a better job or do they smell blood in the water?
The ward has a large chunk of rural Burlington within its boundaries but the voting population is in the Alton, Headon and Millcroft communities.
This was home turf for Blair Lancaster the incumbent completing her first term. However Alton wasn’t a significant part of the population in 2010 – it was a community that was beginning to come together so it is an unknown as far as where the hearts of the voters lie.
Headon and Millcroft was a part of the city Lancaster split with Mark Carr who didn’t lose by all that much in 2010
Issues in the ward south of Dundas were the usual – parking, snow removal – nothing that would grab voters enough to get them to turn out in droves.
There was the renaming of South Hampton Blvd, a city street that runs west off Walker’s Line and has just the one address on it – the Burlington detachment of the Halton Regional Police. Police Association executives wanted the street name changed to Constable Henshaw Blvd., to commemorate Bill Henshaw who died while on duty in 2010.
It really wasn’t a major issue but one that riled one area resident enough for him to delegate and complain that is calls to Lancaster were never answered. “I did call you, on several occasions” said Lancaster. “Yes” responded the citizen – “you called me after the Standing Committee meeting took place and you had made your decision”.
Renaming the street wasn’t a big issue but the communication between the Council member and the constituent was the type of thing that would come up again and again with Lancaster.
Transit was an issue but it was not one that Lancaster had much to say about.
They had every reason to be smiling. Councillors Meed Ward and Lancaster pose with five members of the Friends of Freeman Station after the Council meeting that approved the entering into of a Joint Venture that would have the Friends moving the station and taking on the task of renovating the building.
She did have a lot to say about the Freeman Station and for that Lancaster deserves both merit points and a Brownie badge. She, along with Councillor Marianne Meed Ward, took the lead on this issue and managed to hold the rest of Council back. The two women don’t get along, have very little time for each other and deserve credit for being able to set aside differences and ensure that the Freeman project didn’t get trampled.
What Lancaster has not been able to do is establish strong working relationships with all too many of her constituents.
That dissension, particularly with those in rural Burlington who felt very strongly that there interests – and those of the city – were not being met.
Fellow Council members would comment on how little time Lancaster spent at city hall and there wasn’t a lot of positive feedback from city hall staff. A problem over a parking ticket was memorable.
Vanessa Warren, one of the best delegators we’ve seen in some time and an excellent researcher as well was seen as THE leader in this race for the Council when she declared her candidacy.
Rural Burlington residents could not understand why there Council member chose to sit beside Vince Rossi – owner of the Air Park and the man responsible for dumping tonnes of fill without the required permits
For the rural population of the ward the Air Park issue has been major. They see the landfill dumping done as a major affront to the environmental integrity of their part of the city and they feel the ward councillor is just a little too cozy with Vince Rossi, president of Burlington Air Park Inc.
Lancaster held many of her ward events at the Air Park – a nice location – what many didn’t fully appreciate was that the occasion was also an Air Park Open House that Lancaster was piggy backing on.
During the early days of the land fill being trucked onto the air park site a number of residents wondered who Lancaster was working for. There was some vicious email between Lancaster and several of her residents who became suspicious and wary of her actions.
During a community meeting at the Warren farm on Bell school line Lancaster sat beside Vince Rossi; during the trial over the landfill and site plan argument Lancaster sat in the row behind Rossi.
Lancaster election signs appear beside the Air Park runway.
The rural residents stopped trusting their Council member and formed a coalition of interests to keep the community informed. It was that coalition, Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition that did much of the early research on the financial organization of the Air Park and the $4.5 million mortgages that were on the property.
Vanessa Warren, the founding chair of that organization, delegated to the city and the Region very effectively. As 2013 became 2014 Warren decided that here had to be a candidate that would run against Lancaster and filed her nomination papers.
To the surprise of many, candidates then began to come out of the bushes until there were nine candidates running against the incumbent.
Lancaster appears to be betting that the nine will split the vote very widely and that her core vote will hold and she will manage to come up the middle.
During the 2010-14 term Lancaster served on the Burlington Museums Board, Burlington Public Library Board, Burlington Inclusivity Advisory Committee, Burlington Mundialization Committee and the Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee.
From left to right: Carm Bozzo, development manager, Halton Women’s Place; Councillor Blair Lancaster; Mayor Rick Goldring; Ed Dorr, Chair, Burlington Mundialization Committee.
Perhaps her best work was done on the Mundialization committee where she represented Burlington with our sister cities Apeldoorn in Holland and Itabashi in Japan. It is in those almost semi-diplomatic roles that Lancaster shines.
There were three new council members in 2010 –Blair Lancaster, Paul Sharman and Marianne Meed Ward. Sharman created a name for himself with the way he handled the 2010 budget debates; Meed Ward brought a reputation with her – Lancaster struggled to learn the job and find her own niche.
She is currently chair of a Standing Committee; fortunately she has Councillor Craven as her deputy and he can guide her.
Background links:
Ward six: what has it got going for it?
Letter to the Editor
By Geoff Brock
October 20, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
A point of clarification. Peter Rusin never said a highway through Burlington was inevitable. He did say a new highway was inevitable and that if Burlington didn’t get proactive with the province and make sure they were at the table where the decisions are going to be made there could be a highway through Burlington.
I’m want to respond to the discussion I’ve seen in the news over the past weekend about a new Niagara Highway coming to Burlington.
I’m very disappointed to see that Peter Rusin, one of the candidates for Mayor in Burlington, is supporting a new Highway through Burlington because he thinks that will end traffic congestion and drive growth
Mr. Rusin’s position ignores the 10+ year study process that was completed by the Provincial Ministry of Transportation in 2013. This study involved multiple municipalities, dozens of Public consultation meetings, and over $10 million in consulting work and transportation planning. The conclusion was that a New Niagara highway corridor is not needed in Burlington. The Stop the Escarpment Highway Coalition was an active participant in this process, along with the City of Burlington and the Halton Region. The conclusion that was reached is a great example of local community groups working with local governments. I don’t know what facts Mr. Rusin is working with other than his own personal opinion.
Metrolinx completed the Midtown Oakville Mobility Hub Study in October 2012. The study developed a long-term vision for the Oakville GO Station and surrounding lands, building on the substantial amount of planning work the Town of Oakville has already completed – the May 2011 Livable Oakville Official Plan and the June 2008 Draft Midtown Business and Development Plan. It focuses on the redevelopment of publicly-owned lands around the Oakville GO station, the majority of which is owned by Metrolinx. The study also looks at expanding the GO station to ensure it can best accommodate significant growth planned for the area and future Trafalgar Bus Rapid Transit.
Mr. Rusin seems unaware of the work Metrolinx is doing in the GTHA to get people out of cars and onto transit. Some things Burlington can do alone, and some need Regional and provincial support. GO train electrification will get us GO train service every 15 minutes all day long, all year. That should get some cars off the road and improve air quality! Expanding the Mobility hub around the Burlington GO station could further help reduce congestion and create an employment centre. You only have to look at the great work done in Oakville to define a vision for the Mobility hub around their GO station. Do look.
Getting people out of cars is tough unless they have a viable alternative. Even the MTO’s long term plans show Burlington only moving from less than 5% of trips on transit, to slightly over 10% in the next 15 years. We need politicians and leaders who will ask “What will it take to get 20% of trips on transit?” The answer is better and more convenient service!
There are lots of great policy ideas that Burlington can do on their own. Local trips on transit are not that convenient. It’s still difficult to get from Burlington to Oakville or Hamilton on transit. Working together with sister municipalities, instead of having standalone transit systems, will support the way citizens are living and working in the community. This idea requires regional thinking and cooperation and the vision a municipal mayor can give to the process.
Study after study shows that $1 spent on transit infrastructure returns many times the benefit of one spent on roads. Cars are going to handle the majority of trips for a long time, but the mix is going to change. We need leaders who understand that long term shift is coming and set the course to keep Burlington one of the most livable cities in Canada.
Geoff Brock is the Co- Chair, Stop the Escarpment Highway Coalition
By Pepper Parr
October 17, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
He’s calling the first four years of his time as Mayor the “cleanup/set up” phase for what one might assume is going to be the new beginning for Burlington. The phrase was used in an interview the Mayor gave recently.
What was there to “clean up? The city certainly has its problems but is there a load of stuff that had to be cleaned up?
Infrastructure needs money, transit needs attention, the advances made with the arts and cultural file have been good.
We still don’t have an Economic Development Corporation that is going to do great things for us. Yes, they do need time to put the new story together but we said the same thing about the Executive Director that it took more than a year to get rid of.
On the surface all the public is seeing is an organization that holds networking events. The next biggie that will speak to the commercial elite is our own hometown girl Lisa Lisson, president of FedEx Canada.
We hear precious little from this Mayor on what could be done with the Air Park. Staff have carried this one – what the public is going to gulp at it how much money has been spent on legal fees. Is that clean up or has the public been set up?
Mayor Goldring has taken the position that he put the pier problem to bed – and except for a few minor details that file is closed: what the Mayor will not live up to or taken responsibility for are the several mistakes that added a couple of million to the cost of the thing.
This city managed to go through two city managers while Rick Goldring was Mayor. They pretty well fired the one that was in place when Goldring took office – the second one took a hike to a greener pasture – and if anyone thinks the council Jeff Fielding had to work with was not a part of his decision to change addresses – then they have the same limited vision our Mayor has.
When Goldring was elected there were some questions asked about his work as a financial planner/wealth manager. At the time we were told that Goldring had given up the various licenses he was required to have and that he would be a full time Mayor. We now learn that he “owns” a local branch of Assante Wealth Management from which he has taken a leave of absence – not quite the same thing as getting out of the business.
The public has heard nothing about what Rick Goldring’s vision is for the city. We do know that he is “not on” for the 28 storey tower the Adi Development people want to put up at the corner of Lakeshore and Martha but we know nothing about what he thinks that part of the city should look like.
There are parking lots in a large part of that area. Private and corporate property owners don’t operate parking lots – they hold land until they are ready to develop. Burlington needs to decide what it wants to see in an area that is going to have a 22 story condominium tower and an eight storey hotel just a block away from the proposed 28 storey tower.
Saying that Burlington already has the legacy tower it wanted (that was back in 1985) it a pretty weak argument for not permitting a 28 story tower.
The “set up” here is our Mayor failing to really fight for what he thinks is best for the city he is supposed to be leading.
At the recent Chamber of Commerce debate Rick Goldring, in an aside to candidate Peter Rusin, the Mayor is reported to have said he agreed with Rusin’s views on any NGTA highway but couldn’t say anything for political reasons.
How’s that for leadership?
By Pepper Parr
October 18, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The matter of economic development for Burlington came up during the Chamber of Commerce debate at the Gold and Country Club. Peter Rusin a candidate for the office of Mayor wanted to see the city get more of a wiggle on and work with the province to make something happen.
That faint yellow arrow is where provincial road planners thought an Escarpment highway could go.
Rusin maintains an NGTA highway is inevitable and the Mayor, in an offside remark to Rusin, said he agrees with Rusin but politically can’t say anything.
Rusin in a statement said: The Niagara GTA Corridor Study is a well advanced, significant provincial integrated transportation infrastructure initiative which will have a significant impact on this city. It is imperative that we engage the province in a proactive and collaborative spirit to ensure that we do not compromise the preservation of the escarpment and greenland areas.
“At the same time, however, the need for easing of traffic congestion and enhancement of economic development potential must be recognized and the city’s elected representatives must be honest about this.
“This council has misled people by leading everybody to falsely believe that the Niagara highway issue has been put to rest, and that the city can actually neutralize provincial plans that are designed for the benefit of regional economic well-being.
Is there a road in there somewhere? Is the Escarpment an inevitable location for a new highway?
“Nothing is further from the truth. The truth is, if we fail to take an active participatory role, we may very well see an alignment of a highway extension which will not be favourable to the overall vision of the city and the rural areas north of the 407 highway.
“It is my intention to preserve our rural areas, including villages and settlement areas such as Kilbride, Lowville, and Mount Nemo, and also not have the Urban Boundary reinstated to Number 1 Side Road as in the past.
“The provincial environmental assessment process has identified several proposed routes that would have significant adverse impacts on the escarpment; that is why this city needs to take blinders off, deal with the issue in a responsible manner, ensure a route that does not affect the escarpment and rural areas is successful, and not continue misleading the people of Burlington.”
Mayoral Goldring was asked for a statement but did not respond.
Sue McMaster, co-chair of the Citizens Opposed to Paving the Escarpment (COPE) said: “With climate change impacts (very costly)and gridlock in the GTA, why this highway would be linked to critical economic development is interesting.
McMaster went on to say: “Studies on transportation planning clearly link economic development to transit lines which is why it is so important that the provincial government invest in Metrolinx’ Big Move. It targets congestion where it is. The location of the Mid Pen Hwy is out in left field – it’s the wrong solution in the wrong location.” She added “… the much bigger issue is climate change. We are only just starting to feel the impact. Not only is it important not to contribute to the problem by building more highways, it important to preserve our rural land for food production from the predictable development.
McMaster pointed to the Lincoln Alexander highway and pointed out that: “It is unfortunate that outdated ideology prevails in some minds on sustainable transportation planning. Jobs and economic develop aren’t contingent on building a highway. The Link in Hamilton is a wonderful example of the fallacy of highways as economic drivers. The thousands of jobs promised with the Link never materialized.”
There is a lot of fuzzy thinking going on about just what it is going to take to make the right kind of economic development happen.
Peter Rusin, candidate for the office of Mayor said a new highway in or real close to Burlington is inevitable.
Rusin has some significant on the ground experience with land use planning and has been involved in resolving land use problems related to a number of major highway developments. Rusin and McMaster, a leader in the Citizens Opposed to Paving the Escarpment (COPE) might want to get together and exchange some thoughts. Add Geoff Brock, COPE spokesperson to that get together, he has some very sound views on what is needed.
The Mayor of Burlington probably hasn’t had a long talk with the COPE people recently either.
One wishes Peter Rusin had decided to run for the office of Mayor at least three months ago – Burlington is missing out on a level of political energy and ideas about how Burlington can be grown and at the same time keep what it has that makes it the really nice place it is. If we don’t do something with what we have the province might just decide to merge us with Oakville – they’ve done things like that before.
By Staff
October 18, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Earlier in the life of the current council an agreement was signed with Metrolinx and 12 other Ontario municipalities to put together a buying group for transit related equipment.
Burlington residents will benefit from enhanced transit when nine new buses will be delivered to Burlington; they are part of a purchase of 203 buses.
New buses will be on the streets in 2015 – replacing vehicles that are 12 years old.
Each 12-meter bus will carry up to 70 passengers and be fully accessible, helping people better access jobs, family, friends and community services. The buses will also meet the latest emission standards and be equipped with electrical accessories, such as electrically powered oil radiators, to improve fuel efficiency and help reduce costs.
In a statement put out by the province they said: “Building smarter, more integrated transit is part of the government’s economic plan for Ontario. The four part plan is building Ontario up by investing in people’s talents and skills, building new public infrastructure like roads and transit, creating a dynamic, supportive environment where business thrives, and building a secure savings plan so everyone can afford to retire.”
Nice political rhetoric there – now for the reality check.
Doug Brown, chair of Bfast, a local transit advocacy group that pushes the city to improve transit said: “No real news here, as the 10 year capital plan included 9 replacement buses in 2015.
“Since these are replacement vehicles, there will be no increase in the overall Burlington Transit capacity and the city will continue to be underserved in terms of bus capacity and transit service hours.
The retirement of older (12 years) buses will reduce maintenance costs, and increase reliability.
Funding for these replacement buses comes not from the City, but from the Provincial Gas Tax. Burlington reduced transit’s share of these Gas Tax funds from 30% to 20% in 2013.
Burlington has been part of the group buying process with Metrolinx and other municipalities for a number of years. The large orders resulting from group buying allows the participating agencies to leverage better prices.
Burlington’s MPP, Eleanor McMahon said: “This is great news for transit riders in Burlington. With this partnership, Burlington will save money and provide better service, making transit better for the environment and for the entire community.”
The next time you see our MPP on a bus – let us know – that will be news.
By Pepper Parr
October 11, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Adi Developments has made application to the city for a change to the Official Plan and the zoning bylaw that would allow them to build a 28 storey condominium at the intersection of Martha Street and Lakeshore Road.
Rendering of the 28 storey tower from the south west. The podium at the bottom will be parking space clad in a metal grill.
The existing zoning on the property is four stories with provision to go to eight storeys with planning department approval. The application for 28 storeys has stunned many.
ADI Developments are fairly new to Burlington as developers. They are completing construction of a four level condominium on Guelph Line that is close to sold out. Topping off has taken place. Occupancy is expected to begin early next year.
ADI Developments is also doing a larger project on Sutton Drive and Dundas. That project is being reviewed at the OMB – the developer and the city were not abale to get all the documents cleared and the problems with the project worked out within the 180 day period a developer has before they can take their application to the Ontario Municipal Board
Their most recent project is a very audacious structure that will be the tallest in the city. ADI has always done superb design and have been given awards by Hamilton-Halton Home Builders Association (HHHBA) for the design work they have done. RAW, the project architects have also won numerous awards.
Their first project, Mod’rn Condominium, was the winner of the 2012 HHBA 2012 Award of Distinction, including Project of the Year, and nominated for 2013 Most Outstanding Mid-rise Development by the Ontario Home Builders Association (OHBA).
The Planners for the developer are required to provide a justification for the development report. The document Walker Nott Dragicevic Associates Limited (WND) submitted includes a number of studies, including a Functional Servicing Report; a Stormwater Management Report, a Tree Inventory and Preservation Study; a Traffic Impact Study; a Noise Feasibility Study; a Shadowing Study and a Pedestrian Wind Study.
Delta Hotel on the right and the 22 storey Bridgewater condominium on the left. Both just a block away from the ADI Development.
The city`s planning department will review each study and provide comments in a report that will eventually get sent to the city`s Development and Infrastructure Standing Committee.
What is it that the Adi`s want to build on the corner of Martha and Lakeshore Road? A 28 storey structure with three levels of parking above the ground and five levels below the ground. They want to make the first two levels retail commercial – and if they do it right it could become the place to locate a professional office.
Rendering of the 28 storey structure from the south east. The architects described the design as having the look of a “billowing sail” that will serve as the gateway to the downtown core. That is not quite how the 80+ residents who took part in a neighbourhood meeting described the structure.
Realize that a block away to the west the Bridgewater condominium will reach up 22 storeys and the best hotel the city will have, the Delta, will be yards away, The focal point for the city will shift south and a little to the east of Brant Street.
There are some concerns with the design of the Adi building planned for Lakeshore Road and Martha; there are some very serious concerns with the way traffic will move on Lakeshore Road, particularly at the point where the road narrows.
The architect talked about the design having a “billowing sail” look to it – and that it would serve as the eastern gateway into the downtown core. It may have that look to it – but managing the traffic to the building as well as in and out of the building is going to be a serious challenge to both the planners and the traffic department.
And there isn’t going to be much time to dicker with the developer. When Adi Development found they could not work out the differences with their Link2 project at Dundas and Sutton in the north east sector of the city they moved on to the Ontario Municipal Board almost immediately after the 180 day time period.
We now know what ADI Development wants. How do they justify the application?
In their conclusion Walker Nott Dragicevic Associates Limited (WND) said the proposed 28-storey mixed use development is appropriate for the site and surrounding area and represents good planning. Specifically, the proposed development:
Is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement as it will provide for intensification and redevelopment within the City of Burlington Settlement Area, expand the range and mix of housing, promote transit use and active transportation, efficiently use land and minimize land consumption and servicing costs;
Conforms to and implements the policies of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe by directing growth to an Urban Growth Centre and Major Transit Station Area and facilitating the creation of a “complete community”;
Conforms to and will help to implement the Big Move: Transforming Transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area by proposing new development within an Anchor Mobility Hub in a form that will support transit use;
Conforms to the Halton Region Official Plan by directing development to the Urban Area, and an Urban Growth Centre, Anchor Mobility Hub and Major Transit Station Area;
Conforms to overall goals and objectives of the City of Burlington Official Plan by directing transit oriented housing intensification to Downtown Burlington which will improve the streetscape environment and support its ongoing viability and vitality;
Has regard for the Burlington Downtown Urban Design Guidelines and emerging Mobility Hub study by providing for a landmark development at a view terminus and key eastern entry node to the Downtown;
Provides for a safe and active streetscape with commercial uses fronting directly onto the street;
Represents an appropriate form of intensification that is compatible with surrounding built form, including recently approved high rise development to the west and older towers to the east and north;
Can be accommodated by the area transportation and servicing infrastructure.
The downtown core is in the process of being altered with the construction of the 22 storey Bridgewater condominium and the eight storey Delta Hotel – that project is located in the area with the red outline. The ADI project is the orange outline – a bit more than a block apart.
If the Adi Development planner is right and the city planning staff cannot come up with compelling counter arguments there may well be a 28 storey tower at the corner of Lakeshore Road and Martha three years from now.
“If 28 storeys is acceptable” asked a woman from the audience – “why not go for 75 storeys and call us Toronto West”
Why not indeed
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