 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
 By Lana Kamaric
October 3, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Traditional ballroom dancing involves a man leading and a woman following. So what happens when the dance is performed with two men? Who leads and who follows? Trevor Copp, founder of Burlington’s Tottering Biped Theatre, and Jeff Fox, professional ballroom instructor and choreographer, seem to have successfully resolved this issue with their piece First Dance.
 Now playing at the Burlington Performing Art Centre, First Dance tells the story of Ted, played by Copp, and Aaron, played by Fox. Ted is determined to create a meaningful first dance for his wedding, one that he can proudly perform with his future husband in front of his entire family. For help he turns to Aaron, a competitive dancer and his former lover. As the characters interact through dance we learn the story of their past relationship, their struggles through adolescence and their search for identity in a world of designated gender roles.
With traditional ballroom dance the roles are specifically outlined for male and female partners – the male instigates the dance and the female follows. Outside of the ballroom this notion of male dominance is completely outdated in a society that strives for gender equality and presents an obvious challenge for same sex couples performing a traditional ballroom dance.
As Ted and Aaron compete to take turns leading and following their bodies create a visual dialogue. They struggle to find a balance between Aaron’s classic textbook perfection and Ted’s desire to break free from tradition and create a dance that makes sense when performed with two men. The characters strive to create a harmony between both partners, each having the opportunity to lead and follow, each having the opportunity to start.  While their characters wrestle for control of who leads and who follows, Copp and Fox alternate between the roles with seamless fluidity. Gliding in and out of each other’s arms, they create a stunning balance of strength and grace.
The piece is not performed on an elaborate set – instead the dancers paint the space with their movement. A simple backdrop spills onto the floor with a black and white checkerboard pattern mirroring the contrast between male and female dance roles. While this piece focuses on the relationship between two gay men, the struggle with identity is an issue we can all relate to at one time or another. First Dance demonstrates a personal journey with a universal concept. As Aaron and Ted share their final steps and the dance reaches its end all the pieces fall into place and leave you with a quiet sense of resolution.
October 2 through to the 5th and from the 9th to the 11th. Matinee performances are included. Moderately priced. Tickets can be booked on the Performing Arts web site. Box office 905-681-6000
By Susan Lewis
October 2, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There is trouble in paradise – Burlington Transit staff received more than 300 complaints within the first month or two after the drastic changes to the bus routes last November 3rd.
It would be fair to say that since then, there have been a few hundred more calls and e-mails to staff regarding these changes. People want the base network, that took almost 40 years to establish, to be restored.
 Transit transfer point in the downtown core. Before the new base system was implemented, it appears there was no analysis done by any outside consultants nor was there any input asked for from the public or from the bus users.
Obviously, the new base network is not working. City Staff reported that since November, there has been an overall decrease in ridership of 100,000 passengers in the first six months of the new schedule (from 1.7m riders to 1.6m).
The loss of 100,000 passengers equals a loss of approximately $300,000.00 in bus fares to the City’s coffers and it also means the addition of 100,000 more car trips adding to our traffic congestion.
The response to these complaints from our City Councillors has been disappointing. One example: Mayor Goldring saying, “… we have to give people, who may have been inconvenienced somewhat, (time) to get used to the new changes. Hear the man for yourself: Scroll through the web cast to 01:07:02 +/-
Some people completely lost the service they had depended on for years. Some we know of bought their house because of the proximity of transit. To refer to their plight as being “inconvenienced somewhat” and to be told they would get used a lower quality of life in time is insulting and heartless.
The City is planning to add two new Community Buses and the addition of 13,000 hours of additional service on several routes. The changes would cost $1.2m in annual operating expenses and $1.3m for capital. This was proposed during the June 30 Community and Corporate Services Committee meeting, agenda Item #5, Transit Report Card.
 Community buses are cheaper to operate – but Burlington Transit hasn’t got the bugs in scheduling worked out yet, The purpose of a Community Bus is to improve accessibility for people who have mobility limitations, but whose limitations are not severe enough to allow them to qualify for Handi-Van. They’re also intended to reduce demand from more expensive Handi-Van door-to-door services by providing an alternative, more spontaneous travel option.
The existing Community Connection Bus will have service increased from 2 days a week to 5 days. The new hours will be from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. The problem with this bus is that it only goes in one direction. If you were at the Seniors Centre and wanted to visit the hospital, you would have to go to Tansley Woods first to get there.
After being in use for less than a year, the City will make a major change to the Route 300. Instead of going across Upper Middle to Brant, it will turn south at Walkers Line and Upper Middle. When routes are changing every few months, a person cannot count on the bus and must therefore find another way of getting around. Your bus could be here today and gone tomorrow.
The City is planning to add two more Community Connection buses to run 5 days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and they will service the South East and South West end of Burlington. All three routes will connect at the Burlington Seniors Centre downtown.
 Handi-vans are expensive to operate and difficult to schedule. Repairing roads is cheaper? We do need to address the needs of our seniors living in retirement communities. A lot of the areas covered by the Community Buses were serviced by the Handi-Van and by the Taxi Scrip program. We ended the Taxi Scrip Service two years ago, it was costing the City $27,000 per year. Many Community Groups have requested that the City bring back the Taxi Scrip program, to no avail.
With the heavy investment in two new Community Buses, it appears that the City is trying to build a brand new system from scratch. The ridership on the current Community Bus has been dismal. To put so much money into this new system proves that the idea of “build it and they will come” doesn’t always work.
During this current City Council’s reign, so many people lives have been affected in a negative way. They had a reliable service and suddenly they didn’t or worse yet, they completely lost a service they had depended on for years and they lost it with very little notice. People often buy their houses based on where the bus service is. The location of the bus routes is important to a community and it’s an important detail in Real Estate ads. Real Estate Agents often advertise “Walk Score” of a City or a neighbourhood.
 The downtown core was going to be defined as a mobility hub – city talked about closing the transit depot at the same time. “Walkable neighborhoods with access to public transit, better commutes, and proximity to the people and places you love are the key to a happier, healthier and more sustainable lifestyle.” Burlington has Walk Score of 54 out of 100. (A score of 25 – 49 is a car dependent city.)
I’ve often heard it said, it’s easier and less expensive to keep a customer than to find a new customer. To quote a former Burlington Councillor, this is a city where you need to “get a car or get out of town.”
How is Burlington going to explain the loss of approximately $300,000.00 in bus fares and the addition of 100,000 more car trips adding to our traffic congestion? It’s not about buses, it’s about people.
So far, the City isn’t listening to the hundreds of complaints from the people of this city.
By Pepper Parr
September 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Story has been updated
The proposal is for a two tower structure on the north side the Appleby Village which is on the north-east corner of the New Street – Appleby Line intersection.
 First Capital did a total makeover of the Appleby mall site a number of years ago – they now want to add some residential to a part of the property. The site has undergone a major upgrade in the past two years and the developer wants to do some intensification. The two buildings would be situated on the north side of the property – fronting on Pinedale.
Anyone can take a building proposal to the city. The bigger developers know the rules; they know that studies have to be done and they know the process.
In this instance, First Capital, the developers, will have read the provincial government policies and be fully aware of the nuances of the provincial Places to Grow policy and they will have hired planners to write the justification reports so that when it is taken to the city hall staff will have a very clear idea as to what the developer proposes to do with their property.
 Artists rendering of the two tower apartment complex with one 16 storey and a second 11 storey building that will have underground parking. This development requires both a change to the current zoning and a change to the Official Plan – both tend to send citizens up a wall. Many don’t understand how a developer can ask for a change in an Official Plan.
Director of Planning Bruce Krushelnicki will explain, as he has done hundreds of times before, that the Official Plan is a dynamic document that is in place to set out what the city said it wants at a point in time.
Developers however are encouraged to bring ideas and proposals to the city. Burlington wants growth – the citizens say we need that growth. When a developer comes along with a proposal the response is often – “well we didn’t mean that kind of growth”.
Part of the process of getting these development ideas before city council for a decision is a Statutory Public Meeting which has been scheduled for November 18th 2014.
 Ward six candidate James Smith beleives the statutory public meeting should be moved back to a date when the new council can make the decision on this project. That’s a problem for ward five city council candidate James Smith. The new council will be sworn in on December 1st and he wants the Statutory meeting to take place after the new council is in place.
In his letter to Mr. Krushelnicki, Smith said: “As you know this proposed development represents a very large change to the design fabric of the site and the adjacent neighbourhood; to say that this proposal is controversial in our East End neighborhood’s is something of an understatement.”
Smith argues that tabling the Statutory meeting until early 2015 would facilitate important criteria of the City of Burlington’s Engagement Charter, especially when it comes to both Accountability, and Capacity Building.
Turns out candidate Smith didn’t have some of it right. The planner on this file contacted the Gazette and explained that
“we are just starting the required review. One thing that should be clarified is that the November 18 meeting we have scheduled at Robert Bateman High School is NOT the required statutory meeting under the Planning Act.
It is a neighbourhood meeting that the City is holding above and beyond the standard Planning Act requirements, but consistent with our policy to have a meeting for public discussion on major applications prior to any staff reports going to Committee/Council.
I only raise this because I don’t want people in the community to get confused and show up on Nov 18th with expectations that formal decisions are being made on the applications that night and/or that it is their only chance to provide input.
The statutory meeting will be scheduled for a later date, dependent on the file processing timelines and Planning Act requirements, and notification will be provided of this meeting.
In addition, in the case of these applications it is anticipated that staff will be presenting an information report to Committee/Council for consideration before coming back at an even later date with some type of recommendation report.
Smith points out that the City’s engagement charter states: “The City of Burlington will encourage the ability of its citizens and stakeholders to effectively participate in the development and implementation of engagement processes with respect to issues and decisions that affect their lives and their community”.
 An apartment complex to the east consists of three towers – each 11 storeys high. Smith also points out that the white signs that asks citizens to visit a website for a meeting in two months is not compliant with the ideal set out in the concept of either Clear Language or Early & Widespread Notification.
“I’m critical under the Clear Language provision, as information signs posted do not have a clear English explanation; only a legalese description; citizens should have both. Widespread notification is deficient, for three reasons: the poor location of information signs, – facing streets that have been under construction for some time, the lack of information signs available in the Plaza itself and lack of illustrations on the information signs.
Besides wanting the public meeting date changed Smith adds some comments on the development proposal. “The site plan as proposed further exacerbates the deficiencies of the present site as it pertains to Pedestrian, Bicycle, Transit and Vehicle traffic flow, nor does the plan address the lack of street frontage of the businesses on this site.”
 Public art is set at the north west corner of the Village. Goats. For the record, said Smith, I am a supporter of the Province’s Places To Grow policy and firmly believe we need to intensify some of our underused sites in Burlington. However; given the examples in the province’s policy guide and the fact that the City of Burlington does not have hard design guidelines for this kind of rezoning application or for so-called Transit Friendly Design, I believe we need to take some time, as a city, to produce such documents in collaboration with our citizens and the development industry.
This way we can get the kind of intensification our citizens can generally agree upon and avoid long, and costly protracted battles between citizens, the city and the development community.
 South elevation of the two proposed towers. The developer sets out details on the location: Appleby Village consists of seven (7) buildings with a variety of retail/service commercial/office uses, including a Fortinos grocery store, Home Hardware, Rexall Pharma Plus, LCBO and the Beer Store. The Gross Building Floor Area (“GBFA”) within Appleby Village is approximately 20,056 square metres (215,881 square feet).
The 6.6 hectare (16.3 acre) site is bound by, on the immediate north by Pinedale Avenue, where there are three condominium high-rise buildings known as Pinedale Estates which were built in 1989. The three buildings are each 12 storeys and provide a total of 338 dwelling units.
To the south and east of Pinedale Estates, there are two elementary schools (Ascension Catholic School and Frontenac Public School) Robert Bateman High School) with associated parkland.
 Smith would like to see storefront access to the street for those who walk – just about all the retail locations open out to the inner parking lot. The Provincial Policy Statement, Places to Grow, states: “it is in the interest of all communities to use land and resources wisely, to promote efficient development patterns, protect resources, promote green spaces, ensure effective use of infrastructure and public service facilities and minimize unnecessary public expenditures.” It is a key Provincial policy to promote land use
patterns that are transit-supportive and to accommodate a range of intensification opportunities.
Density is almost always an issue for the people of Burlington. Current targets call for a minimum number of new housing units to be added to the built-up area between 2015 and 2031 as 8,300.
The phasing for these units are: 2,525 by 2016; 2,758 between 2017 and 2021; 2,669 between 2022 and 2026 and finally 2,659 between 2027 and 2031 by which time we will all be looking at a much different Burlington.
 By Pepper Parr
September 22, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There were four people at the city council meeting last night who are running for municipal office. Three, Peter Rusin, Jeff Brooks and Angelo Bentivegna are very new to the political process in Burlington. The fourth, Vanessa Warren, has attended many council meetings and delegated frequently.
We asked these people to comment on what they experienced as they watched council during the 90 minutes meeting.
 Peter Rusin said: “The room is too small; the air is dry and dirty and the lighting went off partially during the meeting. There were no young people; attendance was low. Goldring spent more time on arguing procedure re: a third comment with Sharman than letting him speak. There was way too much deferral and reliance on the clerk in keeping the meeting moving along. The city manager Scott Stewart did not get the respect he deserved regarding the fill issues.
Overall, the most coherent of the council members were Craven, Meed-Ward and Dennison. Goldring seemed a bit edgy with an undertone of arrogance.
“I would have spent time and energy more effectively on addressing and resolving the agenda items and issues than trying to impress my colleagues on procedural technicalities; this is not some sort of trial.
And, I would have led the meeting in a more pleasant and engaging manner and left with more tangible results.”
 Jeff Brooks said: “I was surprised how much some councillors seemed to walk in stride on a lot of issues.
All in general seemed very cosy except for Meed Ward.
I tweeted last night wondering why city just putting out letter now to MP Wallace asking to see what Federal $ might be available for homeowners effected by the flood. Aug 4th was the flood, I know our flood wasn’t a national crisis but the optics of just sending letter now, seems slow. I think Wallace’s own home was effected, sympathetic ear?
At end of meeting Taylor didn’t announce any Ward 3 weekend events, instead suggested to drive to Kilbride to look at a restored heritage home (it is a beautiful restoration). Very nice if you have a car, last time I checked no public transit to Kilbride.
Angelo Bentivegna was not able to respond in time for this article.
Vanessa Warren said: “Last night had a great outcome, and I’m pleased that Councillor Lancaster voted in favour of what I believe to be a strong Site Alteration Bylaw; as you’ll recall, I delegated in May of 2013 requesting a review of this bylaw and have watched its development right up until I delegated in favour of it at the September 8th D&I committee.
 As I said then, the bylaw has gone through a public and industry consultation process that I think we should be very proud of, and I believe it’s a model bylaw in the Province.
I was frustrated, however, with once again not knowing what my Ward Councillor’s position was until it was time to stand up and be counted. Frankly, I’m not even certain how she would have voted had Marianne Meed Ward not asked for a recorded vote.
It would be impossible and unfair to ask for a Councillor with whom I always agreed, but I think it IS fair to want to be represented by someone who takes researched, reasoned, and principled stances on issues that I can both understand and foresee. “
Vanessa Ward is a candidate for the ward six seat that Blair Lancaster now holds.
Not much in the way of insight from any of them was there?
By Pepper Parr
September 18, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
We know more about Peter Rusin today than we did yesterday.
He is currently running around setting up his campaign organization – when you come into the race as late as he did – there is catching up to do.
 We described Rusin earlier as someone who was in real estate, which somehow got the word “developer” attached to him. While Rusin has done some small development work his strength appears to be in getting things done.
The approach I personally take to hiring people is to look at their core values and their range of skill sets. If those are up to snuff – then you have someone you can train.
Municipal government is radically different than the corporate world. The way they do accounting is confusing to those that don’t know how municipalities are structured and the provincial rules they must operate under. Municipalities are creatures of the provincial government – the province can deice to merge Burlington with Oakville in a heartbeat or, God forbid, annex us to Hamilton.
The old Ontario Reality Corporation hired Rusin to clean up a filing cabinet of cases that had languished for years – this was at a time when the 407 was being built through our part of the province and reaching into Oakville and points west. Rusin’s job was to clear up files that were years old related to land acquisition problems.
He was later appointed to the Board of Negotiations, a part of the Ontario Municipal Board but not responsible to it. This was a 4 year appointment made by a provincial Cabinet order.
His job there was to work on files and get parties to agree on a settlement of the financial dispute.
Rusin is a strong family man (don’t they all say that); he drives his kids to school and thinks the city should pass a bylaw that prevents retailers from selling drug related paraphernalia. Drugs are a big personal issue for Rusin and on this one he tends to lose touch with reality. The city probably cannot prevent the sale of such products. As dismal as it is – we are becoming a society that sees the recreational use of drugs as acceptable. Rusin knows all too well that the use of drugs tends to go beyond recreational.
Rusin would like to see a tree bylaw. “We shouldn’t be cutting down trees – it’s as simple as that.” He sees trees as an environmental issue and doesn’t appear to get tangled up with what some developers choose to do when they purchase a property and take out all the trees then apply for zoning changes. Trees are necessary and they don’t get cut down lightly says Rusin.
There is an apartment building on Guelph Line, south of St. Christopher’s where the superintendent wants to cut down the apple trees because the geese are eating the freefall. Someone suggested he gather the apples and give them to the church that has a food bank – superintendent didn’t appear to want to do that. Peter Rusin might want to have a talk with that superintendent.
The Association of Municipalities in Ontario (AMO) announced that Mayor Goldring was to be appointed (he may have been elected at an AMO board meeting) to an important committee. Rusin saw this as a bit of a travesty – “Why would AMO appoint the Mayor to a committee” asks Rusin – “because they expected him to be acclaimed?” Rusin felt AMO should have issued a statement decrying the fact that the people of Burlington were not going to have an election for Mayor because no one else had come forward. This was part of the reason Rusin decided to run for the office of Mayor.
Rusin believes Burlington needs growth – not growth for the sake of growth but Smart Growth – a term that can mean different things to different people and Rusin was a little fuzzy on a definition.
He points to Dundas and Appleby and what he calls excellent mixed use development. “People can walk to much of what they need in that part of the city. The schools are close at hand; that part of the city seems to function better.”
Perhaps but try walking across Appleby at Dundas – there are six lanes of traffic – close to impossible for a senior with a walker.
 Rusin is apparently a tough negotiator. So – why is Rusin running? He wants to see a more effective Council; he is adamant about their being new blood; term limits are vital. “We have people who have been on this council for more than twenty years – two of them – and twenty years is far too long. We need people who are capable of bringing new ideas to the table and listening to those ideas.”
Burlington is close to build out; all those juicy development charges are not going to come into the city’s coffers. to
There is a piece of land on Brant Street that has round bales of hay sitting on it. The land is adjacent to the Tyandaga golf course which is owned by the city. The piece of and on Brant is owned by the Catholic church – Rusin plans on having a meeting with the Bishop to get that land put into productive use. Letting someone take hay off that land gets them a lower tax rate – which Rusin sees as a lose, lose, lose situation.
Should this guy get the chain of office draped around his neck – expect a much more proactive Mayor. He is a doer, he gets out there and gets it done. He makes mistakes but he seems to have the capacity to pick himself up and move on.
He suggested during our interview that city staff should work a four day week – and, get this, get the same pay. When he says that in a debate there will be an immediate 500+ votes for him from city hall staffers which will come nowhere near offsetting the howls from the other people who will be casting ballots
 Rusin thinks city hall is a dysfunctional building – thinks staff should work a 4 day week City hall he adds is an unhealthy place. “The air is stale, the building is not a friendly place; the structure is inefficient”, said Rusin. There is a report that has yet to be taken to a Standing Committee on what the city has in terms of space and what it needs in terms of space. The report is believed to have recommendations that include a new city hall. It is being held back until the election has taken place. Having come perilously close to having their brains beat out of them over the pier, this council was not going to talk about another high profile, expensive project before the election.
That is not the Rusin way. He seems to want to get all the information out into the hands of the public and let them be a part of the decision. Are we hearing the real Rusin? We can’t know yet. The public needs to hear much more about Peter Rusin and be given several opportunities to ask questions. At this point he is very much of an unknown. He does have to be given credit for ensuring there is a debate and an opportunity to hold Rick Goldring to account.
Rusin wants the city to begin thinking in terms of Regional transit. “There have to be buses running along Dundas. We have to make better use of the GO stations and the mobility hubs the city has been talking about have to be made more real – and a little sooner as well” adds Rusin.
Rusin believes there are good developers in the city and thinks the project the Molinaro’s are building at the Burlington GO station is the right direction. He adds “there are developers who have a feel for the community and we need to work with them.” Parkland dedication, Section 37 issues and creating a smoother permit process are all part of the changes Rusin wants to see at city hall.
We are beginning to get a sense of who Peter Rusin is and the way he thinks.
 By Ray Rivers
September 17, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
I wrote this piece before we had learned of the actual diagnosis. Our wishes are all with Mr. Ford for a speedy and complete recovery. He deserves all of our support in this battle of his life.
Well it’s a tough one – you would have voted for Rob Ford but now it’s his brother. At a high school reunion the other day, a couple guys, who live in Rob Ford’s Toronto, wanted to bet me he’d get re-elected mayor. I should have taken the bet. They voted for him last time, disowned him only last year, but were seriously thinking of him again.
Doug Ford has been described as kind-of like his brother but without the comedy act. I can’t imagine any late night shows inviting Doug to enliven their audiences. Though quality of dialogue isn’t what made his brother Rob so popular. It was the unbelievable dribble, contradictions, lies and obscenities that made him so much fun to watch.
 Just plain boring – with other agricultural interests? Truth is Doug is plain boring – he lacks his brother’s charm. Remember that radio talk-show they used to have? Well Doug was always the straight-man, right? He has other talents I’m sure, but really lacks a good stand-up routine. And that has to change if he is to be taken seriously as the ‘mini-me’ candidate to his younger brother.
Toronto voters have a lot of choice this election. In fact some 67 people had registered as mayoralty candidates this time. I mean why vote for politically right-leaning Doug Ford when you can get the real thing with the ultra-right, neo-nazi, Don Andrews? And if you want something completely different, there is always the dominatrix, Mizz Barbie Bitch’ Ritch who’d just love to whip Toronto into shape.
No question that since Rob Ford’s reign, everyone looks at City Hall as one big circus – so who better to run it than ‘Sketchy the Clown’, Dave McKay? And what about someone called Happy Happy, who lives out the ‘Hokey-Pokey’ in real time, registering for office then pulling out, then registering again, then pulling out again… and that’s what it’s all about. Gosh isn’t that just like the transit debate – light rail is in, and then it’s out and then subways are in, and they shake it all about…
I, too, was diagnosed with a tumour in my abdomen, back a while ago. So I gave up running for office and have been OK ever since. I had a business associate, a friend, who looked like he had inadvertently impregnated himself. Everybody just assumed it was obesity, but he got diagnosed with a benign tumour the size of a basket ball in his abdomen. Once the operation was over, he was a much relieved man.
Rob Ford, as of this writing, is still waiting for the diagnosis of his tumour, mine was cancer, so we all hope his problem is more like the other guy’s. But perhaps Mr. Ford should give up running for office too – and not just for his health – for the rest of us who are through laughing at the ridiculous, and ever so tired of his adolescent antics.
And what is with this family thing? Oh sure, after JFK was assassinated Bobby ran as President, and then Teddy tried to run in his brothers’ stead. But that was the Kennedy dynasty not Toronto’s Fords. Still, patriarch Joe Kennedy made his money doing a lot of what Doug reportedly did at one point in his life – dealing in illegal substances. And the Fords have deep pockets too, despite this masquerade at being with, for, and of the common man.
 Whose interests are being served? Fortunately the mayor is just another vote at council. They took away a bunch of his responsibilities, and he wasn’t around for a lot of the time anyway between football coaching and rehab. Yet, despite his delinquencies, Toronto survived Rob Ford. So chances are good, almost no matter who gets elected, the city will survive – not like our sister city Detroit.
Another guy named Ford made Detroit one of America’s greatest back when. He was a real entrepreneur who founded the world’s fourth largest auto maker. And the city did get a little help from the Supremes and those other Motown music folk as well. But then decay set in and half a century later Detroit faced its second ‘Black Day in July’ – as it declared bankruptcy last year. I’d like to think that would never have happened if Henry were still around.
And don’t we wish Henry were the Ford now running to be Toronto’s mayor. Of course, there are other candidates with experience such as Olivia Chow, and that guy with that unfortunate name, which makes him sound like he personally owns the Progressive Conservative party. But if I lived in Toronto I’d seriously start thinking about that ‘Sketchy’ character. How could he be any worse for the city than the last clown they had?
 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.
Rob Ford Withdraws Doug Ford
Doug Ford Illegal Substances Rob ford Story Rob Ford More
Mayor Candidates Joe Kennedy Detroit Bankruptcy
By Pepper Parr
September 17, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
I want your trust – your votes would be nice too – but it is your trust that is most important to me. And with that Marianne Meed Ward ended her election kick-off event at the Art Gallery of Burlington to a more than respectable audience.
 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward and school board candidate Leah Reynolds at the Ward 2 kick off. Meed Ward shared her event with ward one and two Halton District School Board candidate Leah Reynolds who she heavily endorsed. Not something Burlington would have seen in the past.
Selfies, the rage for the social media set, was made part of the event – the photographer covering the room for Meed Ward climbed a ladder to get a group photo which Meed Ward said would be put on her office wall to remind her every day who she was working for – Residents First was the mantra.
Mead Ward took the trust theme further when she said: “ .” She added: “I’ve heard and seen the disrespect towards people who come to city council to delegate – we should be working with you, we should be listening to the really good advice people bring to us.”
“Good discussion isn’t possible when a delegate has five minutes before council” she added and for Meed Ward discussion is what it is all about. The current Council, particularly the Mayor, is not a huge fan of prolonged discussion. The council meetings are short and abrupt – they argue that all the “heavy lifting” gets done at the standing Committee level.
Meed Ward would move away from Standing Committees and create workshops where issues could be thrashed out in a less regulated process.
We talk about infrastructure and we misuse that word, said Meed Ward. “Infrastructure equals “lifelines” those roads and sewers and utility lines are the life lines that keep the community going. We need to talk in language that people understand.”
She made little mention of the Region – but she did talk about the mistrust the people in the Beachway have of their elected representative who went to the Region and failed to represent some of the people that elected him.
 Meed Ward believes taxpayers paid $5 million more than they had to for the pier. “The pier” she said to an audience that laughed. “We failed to trust the contractor we had and instead of working with him to resolve a design problem we took the wrong path and went to court. We didn’t win – but we did pay more than $5 million than we should have – and that was your money.”
The Air Park was next: “We let that problem fester for more than five years until residents told us that it was an intolerable situation. This city reacted when the residents pushed back and refused to accept the argument that the land was all regulated by the federal government.” Two court cases later the city is about to pass a new site plan by law that will have them doing something about the landfill – all because residents pushed back.
The Drury Lane bridge that crosses the railway tracks – “it is a lifeline for an isolated community. All of a sudden it needed repairs and the city shut it down because it was unsafe. Residents were close to locked in.” Meed Ward worked with those residents to get the bridge fixed and made sure that the item got through Council.
Meed Ward however didn’t do nearly enough with the Queensway development that jammed some 50 plus housing units into properties that previously held six homes. It was part of the intensification process the city had to undertake – but it has created a situation where the residents have little in the way of public amenities.
 Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward at her election kick off. Meed Ward takes credit for getting free parking downtown on Saturday and all of December and is a leading talker about our “vibrant” downtown but makes no mention of the number of retail operations that have taken down their signs or how dismal Brant Street is during the holiday season. Some of those stores that gave up have been on Brant Street for many years. New stores open – but they don’t last all that long.
The evening was a remarkable performance during which she made it very clear what she stood for – even though she said she was not going to talk about her platform – that was on her web site for those who wanted to know.
Trust was the issue she wants to ride on – and the audience, made up of supporters, for the most part, there were at least five that we counted that would not normally be Meed Ward supporters.
Meed Ward wants a walkable community – she made an issue of the free parking spot she gets as a council member and regularly pays the city the value of the parking spot which she doesn’t feel she should be given.
Her ward 2 community association is the most effective in the city. No one comes near to what she has done with her residents. She publishes the most effective newsletter and she has asked for more recorded votes than any other member of Council. She also has more 6-1 votes than anyone else. Meed Ward stands up and insists that the votes be counted. There was a memorable council meeting where she called for five recorded votes and was the only person to vote no. Her colleague John Taylor kept rolling his eyes at the temerity of it all – but what was evident was the matter of principle.
Meed Ward believes every vote should be a recorded vote – she hasn’t won that battle.
The room Meed Ward rented at the AGB had small tables set out at the edge – places where she could sit and talk to people. On each table there was what could have been taken for the wine list – no such luck – this is Burlington after all.
Meed Ward brings a level of energy to a job she just loves and takes an “I can do something about that” approach. “I first ran for council” she writes “because my neighbours said they wanted better information, sooner in the process, before decisions were made at City Hall. As a professional print and broadcast journalist for 25 years, I thought “I can do something about that!” I started a website and newsletter, which now reaches more than 4,000 residents across the city.”
 She ran for city council because she believes “Residents come first: We live in a great city and must take care to keep what is great as we grow and change. We must protect what you value and what makes you want to live here in the first place. We do that when city hall works with residents, putting the needs of residents first. When we build a city that put residents first, we create places where business want to come, where people want to visit, and where people want to live. When we put residents first, we attract jobs, tourism and new residents – everyone wins.”
There are many, particularly in the commercial and development sector who believe Meed Ward has done significant damage to the city and that she lacks an understanding of the fundamentals that drive business and development.
 Election kick off crowd posing for the group photo that will hang on the Meed Ward office wall to remind her who she is working for. Meed Ward came back to the trust issue again and again. If given the trust she asks for in the next four years she will work to have a Council Code of Conduct: Currently, she maintains, council members can raise money for their own activities with no limits on who can give, or how much. That allows spending beyond allotted budgets, and has led to seeking funds from developers with current planning applications – a conflict of interest. “I support a Code of Conduct to set restrictions and higher ethical standards, reducing risk to residents” she said.
She will work at creating a vibrant downtown and job attraction by revamping the Burlington Economic Development Corp., exploring “incubators” for start-ups. She believes that “with incentives we can attract jobs here. I support new office and institutional uses downtown, to bring weekday foot traffic to our businesses. Commercial development that helps the city’s bottom line; residential does not – requiring tax increases to cover the shortfall.”
 Neighbourhood character and green space: “We need to move beyond development that just considers maximizing profits and cramming the most units in the smallest space. I will continue to stand with residents, and I will work with the developers who bring projects that respect neighbourhood character, consider public input early on, follow our own Official Plan, and preserve green space.”
Transit, trees, culture and more: “I’ll also champion: adding 13,000 more transit service hours and three community buses serving the Seniors Centre; a tree bylaw preventing clear cutting properties before development; a facility fee waiver to help artists use our cultural buildings; partnering with Halton Region to buy affordable housing units in new builds downtown.”
Quite an agenda for the next four years. In 2018 expect Marianne Meed Ward to run for Mayor – then watch the fur fly. There are those that will choose to trust her and there are those that will do everything possible to stop her.
 By Pepper Parr
September 13, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
So – who is it going to be? And does it matter?
Nominations closed yesterday afternoon and the city Clerk can now begin the task of preparing all the papers and getting the ballots printed. And residents of the city can begin to learn something about the people who put their $100 on the counter, signed a bunch of papers and are now going door to door to tell you who they are.
Does it matter? You bet your bippy it matters – they spend all those tax dollars you send to the city. If you live in an apartment building you might not see that tax bill but it is a large part of your rent.
Does it matter? Should you need care at the hospital – know that the city put a special tax levy in place to collect the $60 million it had to come up with to pay for the hospital. Early in the mandate of Mayor Rick Goldring he learned that – Burlington was going to have to come up with that $60 million. The city manager at the time said it was the largest financial undertaking the city had faced.
Which roads get paved – the people you elect decide that.
The PIER – yes it is built and it is nice – but was it worth twice the price it was supposed to cost? When the bill is set at more than $6 million and the final bill comes in at more than $14 million – questions need to be asked and answers need to be given. If you made a goof of that proportion in the real world you would have been fired. This is your opportunity to fire some of the people who are now on Council.
So – what are your choices:
Ward 1:
Patrick ALLEN,
Jason BOELHOUWER,
Rick CRAVEN,
Katherine HENSHELL,
Gary MILNE
Margaret Anne STEISS,
 Ward 1 boundaries Rick Craven is the incumbent; he has been on Council since 2000
We have written about Henshell and Boelhouwer. A note on full disclosure, Henshell has done and is continuing to do some legal work for the Gazette. We will write about Milne, Steiss and Allan in the days ahead
Ward 2:
Kelly ARNOTT,
Marianne MEED WARD,
Philip PAPADOPOULOS,
Andy PORECKI,.
Meed Ward is the incumbent and was first elected to Council in 2010.
 Ward 2 boundaries We have written about Arnott but not yet as a candidate. We will write about the other candidates in the weeks ahead.
Ward 3
Jeff BROOKS,
Lisa COOPER,
John TAYLOR.
 Ward 3 boundaries John Taylor is the incumbent. He is the Dean of this Council and has served for more than 20 years. Lisa Cooper has been a candidate in the past, Jeff Brooks is new to the election game. We will publish the interview we did with Lisa Cooper and will interview Jeff Brooks in the very near future.
Ward 4
Jack DENNISON,
Carol GOTTLOB,
Doug WILCOX,
 Ward 4 boundaries Jack Dennison is the incumbent and has served on Council for more than 20 years. He has been a controversial candidate and brings a distinct style to serving as a Council member.
Carol Gottlob is new to the political scene and struggles to get a campaign team together. When people meet her they appear to be impressed. we have written about Gottlob. Doug Wilcox was a last minute candidate and does not live in the ward. While that may not make much of a difference to those in the northern part of the ward – for those south of New Street it is a very big deal. The residents in that part of the city are well organized and have two community organizations.
Ward 5
Paul SHARMAN,
Ian SIMPSON,
James SMITH.
 Ward 5 boundaries Paul Sharman is the incumbent and is completing his first term. He has been strong on the financial matters that come before Council and certainly changed the tone of the debate. He is adamant about data – no date he says – then no decision.
James Smith has run for public office before – ran in ward 4 and missed the brass ring by a couple of hundred votes. He has been a frequent delegator at city hall where he speaks about transit and planning.
Ian Simpson is an unknown to us. He has had his nomination in place for a number of months but we know little about him. We will interview Mr. Simpson.
Ward 6
Angelo BENTIVEGNA,
Jim CURRAN,
Pardeep Kaur DOSANJH,
Jennifer HLUSKO,
Blair LANCASTER,
Jivan SANGHERA,
Shoaib SHAMS,
Ishar THIARA,
Mina WAHIDI,
Vanessa WARREN.
 Ward 6 boundaries Blair Lancaster is the incumbent facing nine people who want that Council seat. Lancaster was first elected in 2010 in a ward that includes the Air Park and the Alton community that was not as developed as it is now in 2010.
We have written about Bentivenga, Curran, Hlusko, Sanghera and Warren. We will publish the Wahidi interview in the near future and interview the other candidates – most of whom nominated in the very recent past.
Are there any upsets possible? Lancaster is certainly at risk. Sharman could be in trouble. Dennison has name recognition that is so high he will be difficult to beat – but if his record is looked at carefully the citizens of Ward 4 might go for some fresh blood.
Should Meed Ward be defeated it will be the upset of the century for this city.
Craven can be challenged – beaten? That one is going to be an interesting race.
There is a race for the Regional chair; Mayor Goldring has been challenged by at last one creditable candidate – and there are school board trustees to be looked at.
By Ray Rivers
August 9, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
My dad once gave me an Indian headdress he’d bought in northern Ontario. It was just a kid’s version, an imitation, and not very flowing – but he bought it at an Indian artifact shop and it was pretty special. It became a favourite when playing ‘cowboys and Indians’ back then, though I’m a little uncertain about the political correctness of any of that today.
 Prime Minister Stephen Harper wearing an Indian headdress. He has been a friend to the aboriginal community. In Canada our aboriginals face a host of issues such that a celebrity donning a piece of traditional tribal costume might hardly be worth a footnote in the list of society’s grievances. Life on the reserves is being challenged by recent changes the Harper government made to the environmental and fisheries habitat protection laws, in order to steamroll oil and gas pipelines over lands claimed by these first nations. And life for so many, on a number of the reserves, is barely habitable by most standards.
 In fact, Canada has been criticized by the UN for its aboriginal policies, and with some legitimacy. One needs to only look at incarceration rates in Saskatchewan and Manitoba to see that there are problems. And, then there are all the other issues: inferior education, missing women from reserves, violence, alcohol and drug abuse, increasing obesity rates and racial discrimination that still occurs in parts of the country.
The root of all these problems lies with the Indian Act, Canada’s saddest piece of legislation. Back in its day (1876) Sir John A. MacDonald heralded the Act and its goal of fully assimilating Canada’s aboriginals. The purpose of the act was to administer Indian affairs in such a way that Indian people would feel compelled to renounce their Indian status, leave the reserves and join the rest of society as ordinary Canadians – a process called ‘enfranchisement’.
I don’t want to pick on Sir John A. or any of the other prime ministers. The problems really started with all the treaties that the British signed as a well-meaning alternative to wars and the ultimate extermination of the natives. King George III, yes, the mad English King who was also responsible for the loss of the thirteen American colonies, signed a well-meaning Royal Proclamation in 1763, promising all kinds of good things to aboriginals. This may have been an over-reaction to his failures with the American colonialists or part of a plan to get Canada’s natives on-side for the oncoming US revolutionary war.
There have been numerous amendments to the Indian Act, which have brought a modicum of enlightenment to the legislation, and even an attempt (Trudeau) to abolish the Act. But the courts have generally blocked these attempts, falling back on the legislation, the old treaties or the Bill and Charter of Rights. Abolishing the Indian Act would likely require constitutional changes, much like the Canadian Senate, and out of the purview of the courts.
 Suffice it to say that there have been some positive amendments to the Act over the years, allowing status Indians the right to vote and eliminating discrimination against women who choose to marry outside their tribe. The process of ‘enfranchisement’, or ‘civilizing’, which gave us the horrific experience of residential schools, has mostly been brought to an end. In addition there has been progress on land claims. This topic is a complex web of issues to unweave, so please stay tuned for another column.
In 2006 the Paul Martin minority government managed to get everybody, including the provinces, political parties and tribal organizations to achieve consensus on a program to improve the lives and standing of Canada’s aboriginals. In fact even after Martin’s government fell, and Harper became PM, the Kelowna Accord became law; though the delivery ended up being curtailed by the less-than-enthusiastic new PM (after all it wasn’t his invention). Still, Mr. Harper has come back to the spirit of Kelowna, more recently, introducing measures to improve aboriginal education.
Harper has also attempted, boldly, though unsuccessfully, to shift the ownership and full responsibility for the reserves from the Crown to the Indian tribes and their individual members. The notion was to empower aboriginals by privatizing the reserves’ land holdings and transitioning from the communal way in which bands now operate their activities on reserves. By ‘normalizing’ economic activities on reserves this might have been seen as just an alternate way of accomplishing the intent of the original Indian Act.
More recently however, the Harper government passed the ‘The First Nations Financial Transparency Act (FNFTA)’, requiring First Nations to disclose their financial statements and the salaries of band council officials. The argument is that this would provide greater transparency and allow band members to hold their leaders more accountable. Of course there were critics, as always, claiming that this was a higher standard than applied for most public officials.
But Harper had the angels on his side and scored an early win as the postings appeared on the government’s web site. In the tiny First Nation of Kwikwetlem (Coquitlam B.C.), with a band membership of 81, it turns out the contracted Chief, Ron Giesbrecht, got almost a million dollars remuneration from the band council. Apparently he was also the Director of Economic Development which earned him $80,000, plus ten percent of any business that came in. And an eight million dollars land settlement fell into his lap, giving him close to a million big ones, and tax free since he is a status Indian.
Initially the band council supported Giesbrecht, but that is an awful lot of money. The federal Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, Bernard Valcourt was outraged and other Canadians joined in the chorus of disapproval. Apparently his new contract with the band now excludes any provision for commissions. Nevertheless, Chief Giesbrecht would be a brave man should he decide to don a feathered bonnet at his band’s next festive occasion. That is unless he decides to give the money back to the band or donate it to some worthy cause. After all, as good a chief as he may be that is still a lot of money.
 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
Headdress More Headdress Even More Headdress War Bonnet
Indian Act Kelowna Accord More Kelowna Accord Harper’s Plan Big Bonus
Transparency Act More Transparency Even More Transparency
Kwikwetlem
 By Pepper Parr
July 30, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
As part of their efforts to keep Burlington one of the best places to live in Canada, the city is making major changes to the way it plans for, delivers and monitors the services provided to the community.
“Governments are increasingly being called upon to make difficult decisions among competing priorities and to deliver and demonstrate value in the services they provide.
Just what does the city provide in the way of services. There are 50 public and internal services that have been identified within the service portfolio.
 Councillor Jack Dennison meets with people in his ward and brings staff from Finance in to go through the budget in some detail. One of the changes is how the city will prepare and evaluate the annual budget. Instead of the existing method of allocating budgets to a broad basket of programs within each municipal department, the city is developing what’s called service-based budgeting.
Essentially, investments will be made to services such as Animal Control; Road and Sidewalk Maintenance; Winter Maintenance; Transit Service; Parks and Open Space Maintenance; Fire Protection; and Recreation. Each service will have a specific person, identified as the service owner, who is responsible for overseeing delivery of the service.
 Each year citizens gather to have the budget explained to them. Vanessa Warren, founder of the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition, jumped up at last year’s session and asked why citizen’s weren’t meeting with the city BEFORE the budget was determined so that they could have input when it would matter. She didn’t get an answer. Each year, Council, staff and the community will be able to see exactly how much money has been invested into each service and how much of that service has been delivered to the satisfaction of the tax payers.
The move into what the city is calling Egov is a corporate culture transformation initiative and was established, in part, through conversations with our customers and staff. The city maintains more than two-thirds of residents and 70 per cent of businesses surveyed said they prefer to carry out interactions and transactions with the city online.
The E-Government strategy will be delivered through 10 projects over three years . This will build the technology platform to power E-Government and online service programs for the future.
One of the more recent examples of this approach is the Online Pot Hole reporting feature. Each spring, Burlington streets are dimpled with pot-shaped holes that cause inconvenience and could be hazardous. And while the City’s roads and parks maintenance team helps keep roads safe for travel by filling potholes wherever they find them, motorists also have a role to play.
Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians are encouraged to report potholes online. Click here to try it.
The framework for the new budgeting methodology was approved by City Council in May 2013. This new approach will be seen when the budget for 2015 is presented,
The Results Based accountability (RBA) tool aligns what needs to be accomplished within the city’s broad strategic directions of vibrant neighbourhoods, prosperity and excellence in government. Based on customers’ needs and wants.
City staff will measure specific results for each service area. These measures will address the questions: “How much did we do?,” “How well did we do it?” and “Is anyone better off?” These questions will get to the root of the amount of services provided, how efficiently they have been delivered, and the effectiveness and value of each service.
Customer satisfaction surveys will help provide answers to the questions. The new budget and accountability process will also allow for meaningful public input into the budget process and allow City Council to make informed decisions regarding whether specific services need to be enhanced, maintained at current levels, reduced or eliminated entirely. It will also identify any new services that might be needed.
Overall, the goal is to ensure citizens are getting good value for their municipal tax dollars. In addition to the investment into each service through the budget process, the new system will also be set up to evaluate the use of human resources, machinery and materials. Each service owner will be empowered and encouraged to determine if there are more efficient ways of delivering the service. As an example, transit routes and the frequency of bus service on particular routes can be altered, depending on the demand for services in each area of the city.
How do we keep getting better? The third tool supporting the changes Burlington is making to service delivery involves business process management. This tool will be used to identify opportunities for continuous improvement. The process, itself, involves a critical review of how services are being delivered, the steps in the process, what is and isn’t working, and how the service delivery can be improved or streamlined.
For example, a series of questions might be: Is it possible to make better use of technology to streamline both internal processes and to deliver services to the public? Are there gains that can be made that would benefit citizens? Can citizens be given the opportunity to have more interactions with the city online rather than waiting “in line” at city hall? If so, can city staff then be refocused elsewhere to offer services where personal attention is really needed?
The business process management tool also allows for collaboration between service owners in areas where interests overlap. This way, different service owners can work together on a continuous improvement initiative to review the processes used to deliver a service to the community.
 Lori Jivan, Acting coordinator of budget and policy patiently leads people through an explanation of the budget and the workbook the city created. As an example, the service owner responsible for the Recreation service can work with the service owner responsible for the Sport service to provide enhanced alignment between the city’s recreational facilities and the organized sports programs that wish to use those facilities. Burlington residents, city Council and staff want to be proud of their local government and the services that are delivered. All stakeholders want to be confident the city is well-managed, forward-looking and provides high-quality services that satisfy users. The changes to the service delivery process are designed to ensure that all of this happens in a planned and organized way.
That’s the theory. While there are very few council members around city hall these days – they are out knocking on doors – staff, particularly those in finance, are doing dry runs on the new approach while at the same time they prepare two versions of the budget using the same numbers.
Background links:
How does 16% more in the way of taxes in 2015 sound?
 By Staff
July 16, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
John Sweeney has said he will not be running for office even though he blew $100 to nominate himself as a council member in ward 4. He hasn’t withdrawn – yet. He wants to keep his name out there and be able to comment on what he feels are matters of interest – and he certainly has things to say about the structure of the new Economic Development Corporation.
 wev Sweeney asked Mayor Goldring and Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison to comment on several questions:
Here is what they had to say:
Sweeney points out that “they did not answer all of the questions. They did some of the politician “side-step” or just answering the portion of a question that they wanted to instead of just answering in its entirety. They do however confirm that the Board of the BEDC will be compensated and the costs will increase but they are not sure by how much.
Dennison points out that he, Councillor Sharman, the Mayor, the city manager and General Manger Scott Stewart will sit on the board – Stewart will not have a vote.
“The burning platform, according to Dennison “is the fact that Burlington is the slowest growing city in the GTA and the oldest city.
As a result, our increase in assessment growth is projected to be .50% in 2014 compared to 1.5%, 3 years ago and 3% 10 years ago.
This slow growth, if not acted upon, will create tax rate increases higher than we would like and service reduction as well.
In addition any additional growth we can get from the ICI Sector pays approximately double what residential pays for identical assessment, while generally not putting additional strain on infrastructure.
Sweeney wanted to know: Why the rush to get this done? Is there a phased option? Repurpose BEDC right now and then spend some more time on the specifics of the hold/devco options. The current budget for BEDC is established and approved why not wait until next year and makes this part of the OP and also secures the support of the Council in place after the election since they will be executing it.
The response: The new BEDC will be a more structured, focused and purposeful organization that will take some time to transition.
 Councillor Jack Dennison sits on the board of the reformed Economic Development Corporation – expect him to urge that they be both direct and aggressive. First, get the new board and CEO in place. Secondly, focus on more aggressive strategies around attraction and retention and then pursue development opportunities that could include land banking and partnering with developers
Why is it “For Profit”? Why not a “Non-profit” structure?
We want BEDC to have the potential to act as a developer if necessary. That does not mean that BEDC has to generate profits no matter what.
If the end result is to have a Servco capability, this could save tax payers money and potentially have a for profit component that could also reduce the continual strain on the city operating budget.
3/ Is there an increased cost? Different skill sets, higher salaries, more people?
Yes – although the specific details are yet to be clearly defined.
4/ Is the current BEDC Board compensated? Will the new BEDC Board be compensated? How much? Will the members of the interim board be eligible for the new board?
The governance of the new BEDC will be created similar to Burlington Hydro which does pay directors. Last year, directors were compensated in the $10 – $12k range.
5/ Who will have the “controlling” interest on the board of directors?
The board will report to council in the same way Burlington Hydro reports to council.
There will be 3 reps from the city on a board including the City Manager or designate, Mayor and one Councillor.
6/ How will we measure and ensure that we focus on economic development and jobs instead of making profit for the various “ventures”?
The focus will be on jobs and assessment growth. Making “profit” could be a secondary outcome.
7/ If I am a private developer that does not want to/need to work with BEDC Inc., am I at a disadvantage? How will I be supported? Do I have to pay for it?
 Mayor Rick Goldring may find himself talking to a lot of business people about the new economic development corporation. Absolutely not. The role of BEDC will be to guide developers through the process. In fact, I see the potential for a rep from BEDC to literally knock on doors of landowners to advise them of the tremendous potential they have and offer to help. Existing, aging strip malls are a classic example of an opportunity to rezone as mixed use with retail and office below and residential above, all using existing services.
8/ Is it really appropriate to have allow this organization to spend up to $1,000,000 without going to council?
Currently the budget of BEDC is over $1 million so they can spend their budget the way they see fit. Another view was that the budget approval does have a level of specifics and Council is expecting that funds be spent with-in those guidelines.
Expect to hear more on this once the public, particularly the business community gets a clearer idea as to just what is happening at BEDC. Executive Director (why didn’t’ they make him president) Frank McKeown has his work cut out for the next few months getting some clarity out into the public realm.
By Pepper Parr
July 5, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
One evening after a city council meeting a number of months ago, a member of council asked me: “How are your relationships with the members of council?
I was a little taken aback by the comment, because I don’t see myself as having a relationship with any of the council members. I have, on occasion had lunch with several of them, a drink at the end of the day with others but these men and woman are not part of my social circle.
 They are all running for re-election: should they all be re-elected? That is a decision you make – but only if you vote. I serve as an observer of what the seven members of council do and report on the way they handle the city’s business. I was fortunate enough to be able to sit in on all of the 11 half day sessions when the seven of them, along with all the senior members of the administrative side of the city corporation, developed the Strategic Plan.
I talk to the city manager and the general managers frequently and observe how they do their work. A combination of my age, my experience as an observer and the fact that I am the only outside observer who has attended city council meetings, advisory board meetings and most of the workshops held by the city, I have a unique view of the seven people on council and the senior staff. Other journalists cover Standing Committee meetings but none cover the Advisory committee meetings regularly.
Due to a health issue – had to have a hip replaced – I have not taken in the Standing Committee meetings live for the past five weeks but I have watched the webcasts and worked from that footage. There is however nothing as good as being in the room and watching how staff react to a comment made by a council member or how one council member interacts with another.
 One of the most revealing off-camera events was when Councillor Craven slid into the Council chamber, seconds after the vote on a very significant development in his ward. It is very, very rare that Craven misses anything that relates to Aldershot. That just doesn’t happen, but it was politic for him not to be in the room for what is referred to as the Bridgeview development.
Like anyone else I have favorites and work at making sure the likes and the dislikes don’t get in the way of what I do. My objective, and the purpose of the Gazette when it was formed, is to get the very best people leading the city. The decision as to who leads, is made by the people who vote. My job is to inform them, and do so in a manner that includes reporting the facts, putting those facts in context and then analyzing all the material and explaining it in as much detail and as entertaining as possible.
 What used to be 1028-Lakeshore-Rd.-was-demolished-in-1989. Note the second row of cottages in the background, which are-located along the-beach. Will the Beachway decision, made at the Regional level, become an election issue in ward 1? Every time the amount we pay the members of council becomes a public issue, there is a howl about the amount they are paid. Good people are entitled to a decent income; they have no job security and while there are stretches of time, when there isn’t much work to do there are occasions, when these people work very long hours and are expected to make decisions on some pretty weak data.
The members of council have to raise the money to get themselves elected and be careful, just who offers to donate to a campaign. They end up using some of their own money to get the job.
There is a certain amount of ego involved in running for public office; there are those who abuse the authority they have, some spend far too many years serving as members of council, while others fail to realize they are just not cut out for public service and don’t know how to bow out gracefully.
The personal lives of the members of council take a hit. They are on duty 24 x 7 and many feel their member of council is supposed to solve all their problems. One council member was out picking up garbage bags on Christmas Day.
Burlington’s council members are not yet at the front of the pack, when it comes to involving their constituents. The idea that the voice of the community is like electricity – always on and always providing the light and the energy with which council members direct their actions and decisions, has yet to become the norm in Burlington, but we are getting there.
There are members of this council that just don’t like people and are too frequently rude and impolite. We have members of council, who are not advocates of some of the services the city provides, and while they may be necessary and vital to some people – some council members see their personal views as more relevant than those of the people they represent.
 Councillors Sharman and Lancaster – both elected to Council for the first time in 2010 and both members of the Shape Burlington group – have either of them advanced the cause of citizen participation all that much? Some council members have grown into their jobs – others have been in their jobs too long. Public life is hard work; there are no courses to take to learn to become a good council member. It is the community at large, that makes good council members by calling them to account and expecting them to represent the core values of the community and to strive to be consistent and do their very best.
 Was the decision to sell a short stretch of waterfront property owned by the city and the province a mistake? Mistakes do get made – it takes a strong person to admit that a mistake was made and then fix as much of the damage as possible, and learn the lesson the mistake offered. This council has yet to show that there is a common purpose that they are collectively working towards – and I have yet to hear the Mayor admit that something was a mistake – an honest one, but a mistake nevertheless.
In the months leading up to the municipal election, we will review and report on what the members of your council have done for you. We will also interview every person that is nominated for office and strive to set out what the issues are for each ward, and what the key issues are for the city over all.
 Has the city got a firm grip on the air park matter? They have won all the legal battles so far, but the decision to hold on invoking a new site plan bylaw, when they learned the air park owner is going to present a site plan, has some north Burlington people scratching their heads. Burlington has some very significant challenges ahead of it. While we a wealthy city with many advantages, we have some major problems in attracting new business to the city; we have an aging population that will require more in the way of funding, and we have an infrastructure that was not properly maintained by previous councils and now need millions to repair roads.
 Approving the six story Maranantha project on New Street was a bold move. Was it the right move? We have several developers, who own large swaths of land, who want to convert much of that land from employment uses to residential, which is much more profitable for the developer but expensive for the city.
By all the standard metrics Burlington should be an ideal place for those high paying, high tech jobs and there have been some brought to the city, but there haven’t been enough of them.
The city finally has a reconstituted economic development corporation, but it took more than 18 months to change the leadership of that organization and hire someone with the depth and understanding needed to entice corporations to make Burlington home.
 Does the word “vibrant” really apply to the downtown core? Is there a lot more hard thinking to be done, to get a core of the city that works? We have a city that cannot get out of the travel by car habit, and a city administration that has yet to come up with the solutions, that will get people on to public transit. This at a time, when gasoline prices climb daily and the province is providing some of the best public transit scheduling.
 Know your ward; know the candidates and make an informed decision – your taxes pay these people – and these people set the tax rate. In municipal elections most of the attention focuses on the election of a Mayor: does the public want the one they have and is there anything better being offered. This year it does not appear that the Mayor is going to be challenged; he should be – he needs to be called to account for some of his decisions and a tough election race will make him a better Mayor if he wins.
Some ward council seats get very competitive – ward 6 is an example this time out, with at least six people running for the seat Blair Lancaster currently holds.
Ward 4 is going to be an interesting race – there are some fundamental issues related to conflicts of interest and this city has to decide, what is acceptable in terms of looking after one’s personal interests before those of the city, as set out in its Official Plan. The community has to make clear, what the core value is.
 The waterfront and the pier were issues in the 2010 election. With the pier officially opened for more than a year – its cost is now the issue – will the voters ask for more in the way of accountability and at least some transparency on how the cost ballooned so much? In 2010 the attention was focused on ward 2, where Marianne Meed Ward wanted to bring her populist approach to city council. Meed Ward used the Save our Waterfront Committee to very good affect as the lance with which she went after then Mayor Cam Jackson. Meed Ward felt the waterfront was not getting the attention it deserved, and that the city has made a mess of its legal problems over the pier. She believed the city could have and should have settled with HSS, the original contractor.
There was a settlement, but not the one the public was told they were going to get.
Elections are about choices. Choices can get made, when people have information and not have to look at the ballot and put an X beside the name they recognize.
We will strive to provide you with in-depth balanced portraits, based on what we saw and heard, of each person running for public office. Your job then is to cast a ballot.
By Pepper Parr
July 5, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Interim city manager Pat Moyle told council last week that the most important part of the resolution they passed – unanimously – was the direction for the Mayor to meet with the two newly elected Liberal MPP’s about the city’s desire to see some action from the province on the SLAPP legislation the province has been toying with for a couple of years.
 Mayor Rick Goldring met with the two MPP’s who represent different parts of Burlington. Gives them the Burlington story – but doesn’t buy them lunch. The Mayor got his instruction Monday night – and wham, bam alakazam – he has a meet with the two women on Friday.
 She celebrated a milestone birthday and a week or so later brought an end to seventy years of Tory rule in Burlington. Then she met with the Mayor – we don’t know what she did to him. Eleanor McMahon and Indira Naidoo – Harris both came to City Hall and met with the Mayor for about 90 minutes. The Mayor presented “The Burlington Story” followed by discussion about jobs and economic development; transportation, transit and transportation and where future residential growth will occur in Burlington.
The Mayor presented the resolution that Council passed. Mayor Goldring described the occasion as “ a great first meeting. I look forward to working with Eleanor, Indira and the whole provincial government in continuing to build a healthy, sustainable and prosperous Burlington.
It was indeed a good start. The previous occupant of the Burlington provincial seat managed to go close to a full term without ever appearing before council.
 By Pepper Parr
June 26, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Henry Schilthuis got his turn to tell the public what the Brant Street Pier settlement was all about. His picture was a little different than that of the Mayor and interim city manager Pat Moyle, who was acting as a spokesperson for the city.
“Quite frankly” said Schilthuis, in a prepared statement “ we believe this process could have and should have been avoided. We did what we had to do to protect our company, and feel vindicated in all we have done to achieve the settlement. We wish the people of Burlington much enjoyment of their waterfront.”
 Henry Schilthuis works from a nondescript office in Ancaster continuing the hard work, honest delivery approach of the 60 year old family firm. There were numerous occasions, when the dispute could have been settled. Former Mayor Jackson never liked the pier – it was a former Mayor Rob MacIsaac initiative, and anything that had MacIsaac’s finger prints on it, was not something Jackson could digest. He advised newly installed Mayor Goldring to tear the thing down in 2010
The settlement is complex, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who the winner was in all this.
The city sued HSS for $10 million – they didn’t see a dime of that money – despite the Mayor assuring the public on several occasions that the city was going to get back every penny. There were a number of council members, who were adamant throughout the past three years, that the city had a strong case and would prevail.
Councillors Craven, Taylor and Dennison who were at the table, when the pier idea was first proposed, didn’t say all that much in public during the 2011 and 2012 council meetings. There were a number, far too many, closed sessions during which council and its legal advisers had long conversations behind closed doors.
 It was a much more professional team on the city side, when the second attempt to build the pier started. Nothing was left to chance and the hard questions were asked every step of the way. Here city manager Scott Stewart and Craig Stevens meet with the steel beam fabricators to ensure that the job gets done right. When the Post made a Freedom of Information request the city objected, but quickly saw the stupidity behind that move and relented – letting the public know, that they had spent $1.3 million on legal fees to date.
The city recovered $1.5 million and is going to be allowed to keep $500,000 in hold back funds it has. This is all the city will see from the three law suits it filed. They sought $10 million from AECOM their project managers; they sought $10 million from HSS and they sought $3.5 million from Zurich Insurance, the HSS bonding company.
The pool of funds set up to make payments, appears to have gone to just the city and HSS. The total amount the city will see is $2 million, while HSS will see $2.4 million, which is made up of the $1.75 million cash payment and a total of $650,000 that will be paid to HSS by other parties.
Besides the $1.75 million it will be paid, HSS will be given an additional $650,000 – for a total net benefit of $2.4 million for HSS.
“I am proud” said Schilthuis, “ of this entrepreneurial and family owned company. Our concerns about the challenges facing the pier guided us in our actions. We maintained our position with dignity and grace – simply because it was the right thing to do. The result of this settlement is proof of this.”
“I want to thank all of our staff and our community. You stuck with us the entire time despite the stress and burden of this onerous ordeal. We have remained true to our values as a 60 year old company and that makes it all worth it.”
A proud man who stuck to his principles and did what he believed to be right and feels the settlement supports his decision to walk off a project, that could not be built with the plans he was given.
The current city council might look to the way Schilthuis handled himself, throughout what he called a “long and arduous ordeal”. City staff had no problem working with Henry Schilthuis – it was the politicians that made a mess of this one. Hopefully council members will reflect on how this worked out and be honest with themselves – this was not their finest hour.
 The pier in December 2011 stripped of all the steel Schilthuis installed – with nothing but the caissons in place. The trestle to the right of the pier was used for construction equipment to lay down the new beams. During the summer when people talk about how they want to vote come October – they might be persistent and consistent in asking the incumbents, what went wrong.
The $6 million plus that was spent would have done a lot for our transit system and road maintenance work, that we are so far behind on. Hold their feet to the flames.
By Ray Rivers
May 28, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Margaret Wente, a columnist for the Globe and Mail, wishes that Bill Davis were running in this provincial election because he represents “the good old days”. But Bill Davis, the Conservative, in all his fourteen years as Premier never once balanced a budget. In fact he was the kind of spender Tim Hudak daily accuses Kathleen Wynne of being.
Davis used public resources to grow the province, opening up the public treasury to improve education, infrastructure, health care, public transit, the environment and electrical energy. Davis understood that growing an economy is like growing a business, the business of good government. You need to invest and sow seeds if you want to harvest and profit. And he understood that investing for the longer term, in areas like education, is important too.
That is why I can’t support Tim Hudak. Even though we both obtained economic degrees at the same university, Hudak must have missed a few classes. I mean does he really want to be Mike Harris redux? Perhaps he is just stuck in time, given all those days he spent in the Harris caucus. Hudak’s promise to fire 100,000 teachers, nurses and civil servants has already sent shivers through the markets. And his war on trade unions would almost make Harris’s ‘Common Sense Revolution’ look like,,, common sense.
Harris learned the hard way that cutting taxes just makes the deficit bigger – which partly explains why he took so long to balance his budgets. By comparison, McGuinty’s growth program saw balanced budgets almost as often, despite the global recession which crippled our auto industry. And do we really want to further slash corporate taxes just so the big banks can make even greater profits?
Hudak’s so-called ‘million jobs plan’ has become the biggest joke in this election campaign. Wente’s reference to Hudak’s economic plan being described as “a load of ripe manure” pretty much sums it up.
And what has happened to Andrea Horwath. She turned up her nose at the kind of budget NDP’ers only dream of – the kind even Bob Rae had never introduced. Ms. Dithers, who took forever to decide to support the last budget, which gave her everything she wanted, was quick to reject this one because it offered the NDP too much. Having caused this election however, she has now decided to adopt essentially the same Liberal budget she’d just rejected as her platform.
Rank and file, and even her candidates, are disowning her. They are just as confused as she is about what she really wants. Lately and sadly, Horwath has reverted to just screaming corruption at the Premier. A false accusation since, while there may have been political pandering and some mismanagement during the McGuinty era, that is not corruption. We know that all governments, including that of good old Bill Davis, have also suffered their fair share of mismanagement and scandals.
Of course, the deficit is an issue and will need to be brought under control, and the debt paid down. But Ontario’s current debt is about the same as that of the federal government on a GDP basis, comparable by that measure to some of the other provinces and considerably lower than Quebec’s. Also, with the low interest rates we have been experiencing, debts and deficits are less of a concern, providing they are used to fund wise investments..
Had Mr. Hudak attended and paid attention to the economics classes dealing with fiscal policy, as I had, he would have learned that it is better to grow your way out of a deficit than to cripple the economy with tough austerity. The recent sad experience of European austerity is a good case study of just that. And if Mr. Hudak doesn’t believe me, he could always consult with that other economist, our PM, to learn about how growth has helped get the nation’s books out of the red.
 Energetic, engaging, open, stable and visionary. Some people think you need to change governments every couple of electoral terms, just to get a fresh start. Except that is not what the people of Alberta have been practicing for the last forty years. The ruling PC party there refreshes itself by changing its leader, usually before that leader reaches his/her best-before date. It is still democracy when you keep electing the same government, if only because the other parties are just too scary for you – as they are in this upcoming Ontario election.
Here in Ontario the PC’s once ruled continuously for 42 years with a number of different leaders at the helm. Kathleen Wynne has been Premier for a little over a year and has shown herself to be energetic, engaging, open, stable and visionary. She is as close as we get to Wente’s Bill Davis in this election.
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. He developed the current policy process for the Ontario Liberal Party.
Background links:
Wente on ghosts haunting Ontario
Bill Davis
Balanced Budgets
Alberta’s Elections
Tractor Pull
The NDP (Caplan)
Horwath’s Platform
Horwath’s Problems
Hudak’s Economics
Hudak (Caplan)
Hudak’s Million
Hudak’s Math
By Pepper Parr
April 16. 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
While the current city manager is out looking for new digs in Calgary as he transitions from one city to another, the business of the city still has to move forward.
The Development and Infrastructure Committee released their 12th Update on Air Park matters earlier in the week. The appeal by the Air Park to the decision handed down in Ontario Superior Court will be heard on June 11th – quite a few people from Burlington will be trooping into town for that event; we understand that most of the ward 6 candidates will be in that courtroom in Toronto to take it all in.
 How much of the landfill on the Air Park property is toxic and how toxic? – are questions both the city and the residents want answered. The answers to those questions are tangled up in Privacy red tape. While all this is taking place both the city and north Burlington residents want to know – just what is in all that landfill that was dumped on the site in the past five years?
Everyone suspects there is some level of toxicity in that landfill. The city hired Terrapex to do some tests and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment got onto the property and did tests of their own.
In their appeal the Air Park took significant exception to the reports provided to the city by Terrapex and challenged some of the data.
At some point there will be a decision on what the Air Park has to do – at this point there is a decision from a judge saying the Air Park has to comply with the municipal by law. That decision stands until a higher court overturns it.
Will the city require the Air Park to remove all of the landfill or just some of the landfill or maybe the city will decide it can all stay in place?
What will determine the direction the city takes, assuming the Air Park appeal is lost depends on just what is in all that earth.
And other than the Terrapex report – we don’t know.
The Ministry of the Environment did testing but they haven’t released the information. Why? Privacy issues. Someone, believed to be the Air Park, has taken the position that the information is private and cannot be released without the permission of the person whose privacy is being harmed.
Many in the community find this both incredible and close to unbelievable. But it is a real problem for the city who now have planners working their way through the privacy process. Planner Mike Crowe started out by asking the MOE for the information; they said no and the city used the Freedom of Information process to get the information. When the MOE continued to say no – the city asked for a mediation – and that is where things are at the moment.
If a mediation fails the city can up the pressure and ask that their Freedom of Information request be adjudicated. It does get messy and very bureaucratic.
 Are these dead fish victims of a hard winter – or was there something in the pond water that did them in. The owner of the property is very anxious and wants to know why previous landfill testing results are not available. They see this as a matter of opublic health and not individual privacy rights. She called the Ministry of the Environment who had some of their people out on the property testing within a day. The belief in north Burlington is that the landfill is toxic, that the MOE knows it is toxic but can’t say so publicly because of the privacy mess.
But a request for testing of pond water that had hundreds of dead fish will give both the MOE and the property owner some additional data.
 That rise of land behind the pond on an Appleby Road property is not a natural feature – it is a 30 foot + hill made up of landfill that was placed on the land without proper approvals. Water seeping through that landfill flows into the pond. North Burlington residents aren’t stopping there. They have prepared a petition and sent it along to the MOE people. The petition is from the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition (RBGC), but they aren’t releasing the contents of that petition. One of the things they do want is better transparency from the MOE.
The MOE is prepared to meet with the community – but until the privacy issues are cleared up – there isn’t all that much they can do.
What we have is two level of bureaucracy fighting with each other over test data that is critical to understanding what the problems really are – with the owner of the property using privacy rules to keep the information confidential.
Messy.
The north Burlington locals don’t help their cause all that much when they withhold the contents of their petition to the MOE. What is it they want and is it reasonable?
Background files:
In the beginning the buck got passed around.
Record length city hall debate on Air Park site.
Air Park digs in its heals.
City seeks an injunction to stop landfill dumping.
Air Park sues the city – city takes off the gloves.
City wins Air Park court case
By Pepper Parr
April 9, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
“In the absence of effective leadership in ward 6” said Vanessa Warren “I have filed nomination papers and will contest the seat Councillor Blair Lancaster currently holds on city Council”, and the race for the ward 6 seat got serious.
Warren is the fourth citizen to go after the seat: James Curran, Angelo Bentivegna, Mina Wahidi have filed nomination papers and now Warren. All will have their names on the ballot in October. It should be the race to watch come the October municipal election.
 The community first got a look at Warren when she chaired the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition to stop the trucks that were dumping what she called “toxic landfill” on what she described as an unlicensed landfill operation known as the Burlington Executive Air Park on Appleby Line.
The issue first came to the wider community’s attention when the Gazette published a story on all the trucks that were on upper Appleby Line carrying fill into the Burlington Air Park site.
Citizens in the rural part of ward 6 were lived with the lack of response from their ward Councillor who seemed just too close to the owner of the air park.
Warren delegated very successfully to city council and just as effectively to the Region. She proved to be very forthright and to have done the homework necessary to get at the issues. It was Warren who dug up the fact that there was $4.5 million in mortgages on the air park property that she called the Burlington Airpark landfill dump.
Warren then become engaged in critical issues such as the LaSalle Park Marina expansion, the Mount Nemo Heritage Conservation District, the new Official Plan and the 2014 Budget, where she challenged a speaker for hijacking a public meeting. Burlington was beginning to see a very feisty advocate.
In her campaign media release Warren said she “seeks to radically improve on Blair Lancaster’s poor record of access and engagement at City Hall.” The white gloves were clearly off.
“We’re going to need really strong leadership to enhance the livability of our urban spaces while still protecting our green spaces.” said Vanessa who was a Burlington Green board member for a short period of time. She resigned all her community affiliations when she announced she was going to run as a candidate.
“I commit to being an unflinching listener, communicator, and leader”, said Warren. She has also committed to continuing to do her homework and let the people of ward 6 see what she has to offer.
With three other candidates in the race for the seat on council – it may well prove to be the most interesting election race in October – BUT ward 4 has some interesting developments. More on that situation at another time.
Who then is Vanessa Warren? She and her husband run two equine business operations; one in Mississauga that is one of that last public riding facilities left in the GTA.
Husband Cary has been farming at some level for most of his life – he is also a small craft pilot.
The Mississauga operation is on land they have rented for more than thirty years. An opportunity to buy a property in Burlington came their way and as Vanessa put it – “this was going to be our ‘pine box’, we expected to be on the Burlington farm for the rest of our lives.”
 The issue was the air park property – and the landfill that had been dumped on the site – hundreds of thousands of tonnes of un-inspected landfill. The Warren property is shown upper right with red lines. Vanessa Warren is a fair human being. Tough, – she doesn’t take a lot of nonsense from anyone but she is at heart fair. She has worked with animals for most of her adult life and understands the need for a firm hand as well.
 Vanessa Warren brings the discipline and focus required as a dressage competitor to just about everything she does. Here she works her favourite stead at a competition. Burlington first saw Warren when she delegated before city council on the number of trucks carrying landfill along Appleby Line to the Air Park site. She wanted to know what the city was doing about the traffic and the content of those trucks.. At that point the city wasn’t doing very much – but senior people on the administration side took the concerns seriously and began to look closer at what had been the prevailing view: the Air Park was regulated by the federal government – end of story.
This time the city looked a little deeper and brought in some advisors. While Burlington did it’s work Warren took her story to the Region and while she did a good delegation she didn’t get much in the way of support. Oakville Mayor Rob Burton gave Warren what amounted to a patronizing lecture and sent her on her way. Burton had no idea who had was running up against.
Warren looked to her community, worked with people to form an organization that could speak on behalf of the people in rural Burlington – and this was born the Burlington Rural Green Belt Coalition. It was a little bumpy at first but Warren brought strong administrative skills to the task and proved more than capable of listening to her peers and moving the ball forward each time they met.
Before long the city was in court with the Air Park owner and Warren felt her part of the job was done. She felt strongly that the community was poorly served by its elected representative and was active in helping people find someone who lived in rural Burlington to run for the council seat. She met with a number of people and there were solid meaningful conversations with several but nothing was panning out.
Warren had moved on. She became a BurlingtonGreen board member and was active in the working on the difference of opinion between the LaSalle Park Marina Association and the people who cared about what was happening to the trumpeter swans who had made a home for themselves at the marina. Warren also began to work with Councillor John Taylor to get him re-elected in ward 3. There was still no viable rural candidate for ward 6.
Warren maintains Taylor urged her to run for the seat; whatever it was – something changed her mind and we were advised several weeks ago that Vanessa would be declaring her intentions after a short trip south where she snorkeled and looked at fish.
Back in the country – the wheels began to turn and she was in.
While the air park has been the focus for Warren – she does not appear to be a single issue candidate. She is an environmentalist; BurlingtonGreen was a good fit for her and we saw some of the grit she has consistently shown when she complained about a speaker from the LaSalle Park Marina Association hijacking a public meeting that was supposed to be about the budget. At that same meeting she asked why the public was reading about decisions that had basically already made – she wanted the public to be involved well before decisions were made.
She did the same thing last week when she asked city council why they were deciding on the building of a new court house that no one knew anything about. Where was the community engagement, Warren asked.
Warren understands that the “next several years in our Ward are going to be critical ones. The urban areas in the ward are developing rapidly and we are at risk of outpacing our own economic development, infrastructure and transit planning. Growing and intensifying without a strong, integrated planning vision will mean disconnected, poorly serviced neighbourhoods. Upcoming Provincial reviews of the Greenbelt and Niagara Escarpment plan mean that our current rural protections could become less fulsome, and I want to ensure that our community’s formidable desire to protect its liveability, green space and agricultural economy is rigorously represented.”
Rigorous is a word that fits the Warren persona. There is nothing “wishy washy” about this candidate.
Yes – the airport runway ends a field or two away from the farm she works with her husband and one could argue that she has a vested interest. The small aircraft pilots who rent hanger space at the Air Park certainly think that is the case. The small engine aircraft aren’t a problem – it is the threat that there might be larger small jet engine aircraft using the runway – and that is an entirely different situation.
Warren’s overriding question about the Air Park is this: What’s going on up there? Is was her questions that got the city into a court room where the won their case at the Superior Court level and are heading into an appeal that will be heard in June.
In the meantime Warren will run her campaign knowing that the illegal dumping at the Airpark has been stopped. Then, once all the appeals are done with the need to clean up the toxic heritage of a five year fill operation needs to start.
The community will hear about a candidate who would like to see “a new financial model for a liveable Burlington that grows in place – one that keeps an eye on the triple bottom line: social performance, environmental performance AND economic performance.
 Vanessa Warren with her nomination papers in hand. She may not be elected yet but she has figured out what the photo-op is all about. Is Warren as good as she sounds? We do know she was a reluctant candidate and that it was the performance of the sitting member, Blair Lancaster, which was a large part of the driving force behind the Warren decision.
In the next six months the people of ward 6 have an opportunity to listen and decide who they want to represent them. Councillor Lancaster has said publicly that she intended to run but has yet to file nomination papers.
By Pepper Parr
April 9, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
While not yet a candidate Bell Line resident Vanessa Warren let fly at a city council meeting Monday night.
She delegated to talk about the new court house to be built at Walker’s Line and Palladium Way..
 Vanessa Warren telling council they were not delivering on their promises. What Warren was doing was highlighting the significant lack of communication on the part of the city about a new Courthouse expansion and consolidation of both the Milton and Burlington Courthouses that is ready to proceed with a request for design/build/lease proposals. You could imagine my frustration at not having received any communication about this proposal from my local Councillor; nor have any of the dozens of what I would consider very engaged residents I have spoken with.
“It is clear from the report that, since 2006, it is has been well researched and well funded – and slated for vacant employment lands in the 407 corridor, it might also seem well planned…except for what I see as two glaring oversights.
The first oversight had to do with Community Engagement, which Warren reminded Council was
To fulfill the vision and mission of the Burlington Community Engagement Charter, that included Early and Widespread Notification
Warren added that the engagement charter was to celebrate its first birthday the following day.
Warren reminded Council they were about to confirm the location of this courthouse and seek an RFP for a design/build/lease arrangement for the next 25 years and beyond without even “brushing up against the first level of public participation on the list in its own Charter, which is to inform.
Warren brought to Council’s attention the “really poor transportation planning” for the Alton community when transit wasn’t even thought of until after it was built, and less than three months before the start of the school year.
I think everyone can agree” said Warren “ that that was an example of ad-hoc and backward-looking work and should have been a lesson well learned.
 Council sat stoically while Vanessa Warren reminded them that they were not living up to the provision of the Community engagement Charter which was to celebrate its first anniversary the next day. Warren wasn’t finished: She pointed out that one of the key criterion used to select the courthouse location was that it be “serviced by public transit”, presumably because many people who use the court system will have need of busing and other alternatives. She had wanted to put a map up on the screen in Council chambers showing that there were no plans for a bus route in place to service the court house that is to be move in ready by mid-2016.
It was at this point that the Mayor interrupted Warren and asked her to “make your comments specific to the Growth Management Plan” under discussion. The Mayor appeared to be having a problem with comments about the failure to live up to the committeemen to keep the public informed set out in the Community Engagement Charter.
Warren said later that she didn’t think the Mayor was right in interrupting her and that all her comments were very germane. She added that she felt most of the council members were “squirming in their seats”
“I spoke last week with Jenny Setterfield, Transportation Engineering Technologist at Burlington Transit, the point person on the City’s Transportation Master Plan and she was not aware of this project.
This all makes me very concerned: concerned that Council has failed to, at the very least inform the local community about what is taking place, and concerned that Council will once again be directing Burlington Transit to back-fill it’s development plans with three months notice.
We need really strong leadership to enhance the livability of our urban spaces while still protection our green spaces. This proposal – while overall being positive – has been approached the wrong way. You’ve only looked at one bottom line.
You should not be consulting after the fact and then ask residents to show up for the photo-op later. You consult in advance and you ensure that the big picture planning tools – like transit – are in place to ensure success.
I would suggest that approving the recommendations before you tonight will be a violation of your own Community Engagement Charter, and will only work towards creating a disconnected and poorly serviced City.
Councillor Paul Sharman asks Warren what some of her assumptions were while Councillor Lancaster listen as she is roundly criticized by a ward resident. Jeff Fielding the city manager did add some comment after the Warren delegation and pointed out that the location of a new court house had to be the result of a consensus of all four municipalities in the Region and that some issues had come up from one of the municipalities – he didn’t say which one – that would be reviewed April 14th. He added that there would be no problem deferring any decision by council until the next round of Standing Committee meetings.
Which was fine – but the comments didn’t deal with the fact that the public had not been made aware of the plans for the court house and any transit requirement has not even been looked at.
Warren had brought the issue to the attention of the people in her ward and the city at large.
That was Monday night. On Tuesday morning Vanessa Warren announced her intention to run for City and Regional Council in Burlington’s Ward 6 and said that after “four years of inaction, inaccessibility and poor communication from the incumbent, Blair Lancaster” she would run for the office.
By Staff
Photography by Oliver Hannak
April 4, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Things didn’t get off to a great start for the Burlington Vipers – the team Brandon Wagner, Burlington’s Paralympian, plays on – but he will be back at it on Saturday taking part in the three day National Championship tournament at the Haber Recreational Centre. The Burlington Vipers lost their first two games
 The 2014 Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League (CWBL) National Championship takes place April 4-6, 2014 in Burlington and are sanctioned by Wheelchair Basketball Canada.
The event is being hosted by the Burlington Vipers in conjunction with the City of Burlington. These Championships are the first national event to take place at the Centre which was built for just this kind of thing.
The place has eight courts where teams can play at the same time. The building, brand new, is squeaky clean with large plasma screen throughout the building.
Wheelchair basketball players do not have to be disabled – something I didn’t know. When any player falls over in their chair – and with the way these men and women go at it – there are a lot of tumbles, they have to get up by themselves. Men and women do play on the same team.
Every player is ranked, which is a number assigned to a player based on their level of physical functionality. It is basically a measure of their body trunk capability. The players are ranked by professionals who have experience with disabled people.
There are five players on the court at any one time – and the total value of the players cannot be more than 15 points. So a team that has some high ranking – a player is ranked between 1-5 and can be a 3.5 for example.
 If there are two players who have exceptional body trunk capability and they have ranks of 4.5 – nine of the 15 points available to the coach are taken up.
Off to a corner of the court two people sit at a table keeping a count of the points on the floor. They know the ranking of each player and are adding up their rank values every time a new player rolls onto the court.
A players ranking can charge but that doesn’t happen very often.
The tournament runs Saturday and Sunday. The schedule can be reached by clicking on the link.
Brandon Wagner is back on the court Saturday afternoon.
Background links:
Haber Recreational Centre deal put in place.
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