The Idiocy of Litter!

This past Saturday, as I have done every year for almost the last 10, I was out picking up litter that people throw out carelessly.
If these idiots spent as much time picking up bag after bag of litter as they do for the careless and mindless action of throwing it out, our roads would look a lot better!

The Hornby Are Ratepayers group (HARP) started the clean up of the area around Hornby 11 yrs ago. Since then it is estimated they have picked up 3,000 bags of litter, garbage tossed out by people as they drive by. Or the numbskulls who stop and do roadside dumping.
The Town Litter Free Task Force led by Jane Fogal has an army of volunteers who go out and spend time picking up fast food containers, household garbage, oil cans and of course water bottles. I have seen things like shopping carts, couches, tires and even a windshield picked up.

With the amount of pop bottles, cans and especially water bottles I am still convinced that there should be a deposit on the water bottles.
Last year I picked up a bag and found the address of who dumped it. My first thought was to drive out and deliver it with an “I think you dropped this…”
I am sure all of us would much rather spend the day at home preparing our gardens or with our families.


Instead we are out, wearing warm clothes, ankle deep in mud scouring our parks, ditches, downtowns and rural areas picking up other peoples garbage. It does give you a good feeling to see the area done that you had worked on cleaned up.

Election Wrap up

The elections are over and there going to be new people representing Halton in every Municipality. The face of our school Board has changed as well. First off a thank you to all those who put there name forward and ran for Council or the School Board. Even in defeat they brought forward ideas and fostered discussion and debate.
In Halton Hills we have lost Ward 4 Councillor John Duncan who always brought a businesslike view to Council. In his place we will have Anne Lawlor who is a long time community volunteer, a member of our Hydro Board and a business woman in her own right. She will be a great addition to our team.

Thank you for the vote of confidence. I look forward to continuing to work for you. I also want to continue to represent both Halton Hills, and Halton on the national level.

The changes at Halton Region will be dramatic; we have 2 people in Burlington who will be new and a new Mayor. In Oakville we will have a new Councillor; Milton has new wards and a new Councillor as well. All willhit the ground running and will be eager to get to work.

During the election we all heard from the public as to what they saw as the issues and the expectations they had. In Halton Hills, the citizens were concerned about the prospect of a 8 lane highway cutting through the centre of our rural area. Taxes and services are always a concern, as well as the need for new recreational facilities and parks. The impacts of growth is always an issue. This is not the complete list but a snapshot.

We listen and will take those concerns to our staff and colleagues. They will be raised at our strategic plan sessions and in our committee meetings. We will look at how to implement them and strategies for inclusion in our capital budget.

Due to the town having to purchase the MSB lands our budgets will feel the impact for a number of years. A small town like Halton Hills will have to juggle the budget for the over 1 million we had to spend to purchase it.

There were changes to both the public and catholic school board. At the public side Gillian Kutarna was elected as the sole rep for Halton Hills. She is a capable women who served as Chair for 2 years as well.
At the Catholic Board historian Mark Rowe is the new trustee. He is a retired teacher who has spent many hours as the Chair of Heritage Halton Hills and is a local author.

The MSB issue was divisive almost as much as the short sighted decision to cancel bussing to the High Schools. I have never seen so much public anger towards both school Boards and the arrogance of the staff in dealing with it.
But let’s move on. The Town will need to work with the new trustees to rebuild the relationship with both boards. The Board will need to treat us with respect and understand our limitations. We must always remember that there is only one taxpayer.

My Council colleague’s and I, have been given the sacred trust to represent you and a mandate to continue to build Halton Hills and Halton Region into the best place to live, work and play.
We have challenges ahead of us but as always we will deal with them head on. You expect nothing less and demand something more.

Census Update....

Since writing the original posting on Monday a lot has happened with the census and the federal Governments refusal to reverse the short sighted decision to drop it as a mandatory item and make it voluntary next year.
The out cry has been loud, multi-governmental, and across the whole spectrum of groups, both research and NGO's.
The resolution was carried unanimously at Halton Hills Council and was seconded by Jane Fogal and later in the evening by Milton Council . Jane spoke passionately about the need for the feds to listen to what everyone is saying.
On Wednesday the Head of StatsCan stepped down over the governments refusal to listen. it is not too often you will see the head of a major governmental department step down over a policy issue like this.
Front and centre has been Minister Tony Clement reminding us of what we saw 15 years ago with the government of Mike Harris. The refusal of a government to listen to its most important person, its citizens.
Lets hope that this is not the start of more policy changes that the general public does not want but are part of a agenda we do not know yet.
Here is a partial list of groups or organisations opposed.

Atlantic Provinces Economics Council; Caledon Institute of Social Policy
Canada Census Committee Canada West Foundation Canadian Association for Business Economics;
Canadian Association of University Teachers; Canadian Council for Policy Alternatives, Canadian Council of Social Development;
Canadian Economics Association; Canadian Evaluation Society
Canadian Federation of Francophone and Acadian Communities,
Canadian Institute of Planners, Canadian Jewish Congress
Canadian Labour Congress Canadian Marketing Association
Canadian Medical Association Journal Canadian Nurses Association
Canadian Public Health Association Canadian Research Data Network Centre
C.D. Howe Institute Centre for the Study of Living Standards
City of Calgary City of Edmonton, City of Red Deer, City of Toronto; Region of Halton, Town of Halton Hills, Town of Milton, Conference Board of Canada
Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada Environics Analytics
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
Federation of Canadian Municipalities; Glendon School of International and Public Policy Information and Communications Technology Council ;
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Institute for Research on Public Policy
Medical Health Officers Council of Saskatchewan Nanos Research
National Specialty Society for Community Medicine
National Statistical Council ( acts in a consultative capacity for StatsCan).
Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
Province of Manitoba Province of PEI Province of Quebec
Quebec Conference of University Rectors and Principals
Regional Municipality of Peel
Rotman School of Management
Social Planning Council of Sudbury
Statistical Institute of Quebec
Toronto Association of Business Economists,
Toronto Board of Trade Toronto Public Health
Toronto-Dominion Bank (per its chief economist)
United Way of Canada United Way of Greater Toronto,
University of Toronto School of Public Policy and Governance

Census...Count your self in...

For over a millennium there has been a time when citizens of countries have had to stand up and be counted in a census. Originally, it was done to see how many men would be available for military service. It evolved to give us a snapshot of how many people lived in a given area and what there occupation may be. For over 100 years our Country has collected such information and it has shown how Canada has grown as a nation and evolved.

You may have read recently in the news about the Federal Governments decision to stop having the Long Form Census mandatory. While most people may think that is a good decision and people should be able to do it voluntarily I think a mistake is being made. The Long form would be replaced by a short version that is not mandatory for the 2011 census. It was done as an Order In Council so the House of Commons never had a chance to debate it or seek public input. They are getting it now.

The Federal Government has said that it was being done as they have had complaints from citizens over the nature of the questions being asked. In the 15 years from about 1985 to 2000 they had received over 45 but the Privacy Commissioner changed the census in response to those complaints. The Privacy Commissioner for Canada has had a grand total of 3 complaints in the last 10 years. The mandatory long form has had a 97% compliance rate. Far above what would be found if it was voluntary. It is interesting as this has also been done in the US in response to some groups like the “Tea Party”

The cancelling of the mandatory long form has been opposed by all of the opposition parties, Universities, Colleges and research facilities and such groups as the Canadian Medical Association. Major Canadian Newspapers such as the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and the Sun have all had articles and editorials asking the government to reverse their decisions. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has opposed this and last week Halton Region called on the federal government to reverse this decision.

On Monday I will be presenting the same motion to Halton Hills Council and it will be going to Milton Council as well. I have received encouragement to do so by Mayor Bonnette and other Councillors. The motion has been seconded by Councillor Fogal.

The data collected from the census provides a wealth of information and is at the basis of federal transfers for items like housing, health and other social programs. Municipalities use this for items as simple locating bus routes and what the make up of their community and how it is changing. Changing demographics in a community can mean a shift in which programming is needed. Such as for seniors or for new Canadians. For what types of medical services Doctors and hospitals will need to offer. Also, for the basis of what type of social programs may be needed as well. From baby health to Seniors housing and everything in between.

Some people think that a voluntary form will collect enough information but researchers across Canada all agree that the information collected on a voluntary basis is not as accurate as ones that are mandatory.

I hope on Monday night the rest of Council will agree and support the resolution that was crafted with the assistance of Milton Councillors, Colin Best and Wendy Schau. Hopefully, the Federal Government will listen and reverse their decision. I will keep you posted.

Federation of Canadian Municipalities

One of the great organisations I have had the honour of working with the last few years is FCM, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. FCM has been the national voice for Municipalities since 1901. It has around 1800 Municipal members from coast to coast to coast and represents over 90% of the population of Canada. While it is a national organisation, this is the logo from this years AGM in Toronto.


I was appointed by Halton Region Council to be their representative on FCM and have been elected to the Board of Directors in 2008. Prior to that I served on the committees I serve on the Ontario Caucus and a variety of other committees. I have received tremendous support from all the Councillors and the staff from Halton and Halton Hills.

One of the goals of FCM is to do advocacy work on behalf of municipalities with the Federal Government and its departments. Also we frequently appear before committees of the house of commons to present the municipal view on issues. The advocacy of FCM has led to Municipalities receiving full GST back, gas tax (which is around 2 million a year for Halton Hills). Also, FCM has the Green Municipal Fund which municipalities can apply for environmental initiatives.

On behalf of CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency), FCM carries out a variety of International projects. Assisting emerging democracies with capacity building and establishing Municipal governments. FCM will have a role to play in Afghanistan and the reconstruction of Haiti.


Halton Region has been recognized as being one of the first, if not the first, Municipalities in Canada to have people on the ground. Ours was by the dedication of our 11 EMS workers who responded to a Halton Staff member’s plea for assistance from the mission he was working at. More can be found at the following link

http://www.fcm.ca//CMFiles/Crossroads%20Spring%202010%20En%20lres1LIC-692010-8371.pdf


FCM is also involved with the following areas of municipal interest:
Municipal Infrastructure
FCM Stimulus Monitoring Centre
Immigrant Settlement
Public Safety
Affordable Housing and Homelessness
Public Transit
Rural, Remote, and Northern Communities
Environment and sustainable development
Municipal Rights of Way
Municipal Finance
Policy Statements
Resolutions
Women in Government
Quality of Life Reporting System
ACT Program
Land Management Project
Annual Ottawa Advocacy days with MP’s from all parties

Last Year when the Town under Mayor Bonnette started the fight against US protectionism, FCM played a key role in getting the ball rolling. The staff at FCM quickly realised the potential downside to Canadian business from the US legislation and helped us craft a resolution for debate at the AGM. I will write another posting on the whole Buy American issue.

The issue spread around the world overnight with media attention from all the major world news papers. An issue started by a Halton Hills business, passed by our Council and supported across the country, then sent to Ottawa was now international news.

Though it took until February of this year to resolve, and it is still not done, the staff at FCM always kept us informed and part of the process. They always looked at it as Halton Hills resolution. They always made sure that we knew it was our resolution and they were working with us.

This year I assisted the Men4Women campaign and offered to have my head shaved to raise money for the scholarship for women FCM offers. We were able to raise over 3200 for the scholarship and Jane Fogal could not wait to get the clippers and help the cause!



The next few years will be challenging for municipalities. Both federal and provincial governments are fighting record deficits. We need to speak with that one collective voice to ensure any cuts are not on the backs of OUR Municipal taxpayers. I hope to continue working with FCM.

We speak loudest when we speak with the power of one voice.