Ward 2 debate draws 350 people - full house - standing room only.

council 100x100By Pepper Parr

October 2, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

It was certainly a full house.

An estimated 350 people filled the Burlington Baptist Church on New Street last night to hear the six candidates vying for the city council seat that has been vacated by Marianne Meed Ward who is running for Mayor.

Full house 350

It was a full house – ward 2 all candidate debate.

It was standing room only taking place on an evening when the weather was “inclement”. People were flowing into the church sanctuary well after the 7:00 pm start time.

Standing room onlyIt was polite debate; there were no demonstrations; there was no disruptive behavior.

The Gazette will report at length on who said what and the audience response to the different candidates.

Every candidate tries to get their supporters to attend and applause vigorously at the right moment.

If applause is any measure of the way the audience was going then Lisa Kearns owned the room.

Flooding inThe debate on the matter of cannabis being sold at retail locations in Burlington was the question that showed a clear division. It split almost evenly between those who wanted the city to wait and see what other municipalities decided to do and those who felt the city should vote for permitting the commercial outlets right away.

At one point during the meeting this reporter began to wonder if there were going to be questions on issues other than intensification.

The bulk of the applications for development are landing in ward 2 where there are some pretty strong views that feel there is just too much.

There were also a number of issues that indicated there is a lot of homework to be done on the part of the candidates.

Candidates ward 2

The six candidates running in ward 2.

One of the six: Lisa Kearns, Roland Tanner, Michael Jones, Kimberly Calderback, Walter Wiebe or Gerard Shkuda will take the ward 2 seat on December 3rd when a new Council is sworn in.

 

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4 comments to Ward 2 debate draws 350 people – full house – standing room only.

  • Harry Williams

    Jim and Tom I think you both are missing the point. The plan is with the region and cannot be changed until we get it back. This means that it would be approved and in affect. Any amendments would have to go back to the region for approval. While these changes are happening we cannot create the proper systems, checks and balances that we need to stop the development at the municipal level. If we do not have a plan in place that addresses these height limits and designations we will get over turned every time and the developers will keep going to the province and getting whatever they ask for. We need to get a plan in place now and not keep dragging our feet or we will end up with a downtown filled with 23 storey buildings (probably a bit of an exaggeration but not far off) It took 6 years to get this OP created…how much longer are you OK going without an updated OP? The old OP does nothing for us as it is so outdated that we will get overturned at the province every time.

    If you think this reply is pure stupidity go to the Province and ask, go to the Region and ask or go to the City and ask.

    PS: I don’t know what debate you guys were watching but Kearns was not even in the top 3!

  • Penny

    Jim, it is not the role of the debate format to challenge any misinformation. It is up to the other candidates to do this.

  • Tom Muir

    Jim,

    This is an example of what I mean when I say that some of the candidates in the election are unthinkingly stupid.

    Stupidity is an accumulation of negligence to learn important things, and incomprehension of the consequences of that ignorance.

    As well, the appearance of being stupid, as I define it, could also be the result of political calculation, a crafty and deliberate misstatement and misinterpretation of facts at issue.

    Is this lady stupid or crafty?

    You should have named her, but there are only two ladies in the running, and I don’t think Lisa Kearns is stupid.

    But the other lady has shown signs of this affliction, either real or craftily concocted as alternative facts, in the campaign before.

  • Jim Young

    Disappointing to hear one candidate speaking in support of the New Official Plan say that with no official plan in place developers would have free reign.
    There is an official plan in place and it remains in effect until the new plan is approved by The Region.
    It actually has lower limits in Ward 2 than the New Official Plan.
    She also said that the official plan’s transport plan was vital for the city.
    One of the biggest criticisms of the New OP and the rush to approve it, is the fact that it has no transport, transit, parking or infrastructure plans in it or in place for the New OP.
    Ward 2 voters deserve better informed candidates than this.
    The debate format should have allowed this misinformation to be challenged.