Burlington Life — Gordon Schottlander

WATCHING BILL 89

I have been watching with interest the painfully slow passage of Bill 89.

This is a Provincial Private Members Bill introduced by MPP Cam Jackson which calls for, among other considerations, an automatic coroner's inquest when a child dies while in the care of a parent who is, or has been, the subject of a court access order.

The Bill was originally considered in 2004 and was passed unanimously and was supposed to go to the Legislature's Standing Committee on Justice Policy but it was dropped!

The Bill, also known as Kevin and Jared's Law, came into being through the efforts of Burlington resident Marjorie Latimer whose grandchild Kevin suffered fatal injuries from a fall from an apartment window while in the care of his father, who at the time was estranged from Kevin's mother.

The Bill is also named for Jared Osidacz of Brantford who was stabbed to death by his father earlier this year.

Bill 89 received second reading this Spring and is now going to an all-party Standing Committee for public discussion.  There are two days of public hearings set aside on August 29 and 30 at Queen's Park.  The public can make presentations (if room is available (not my words)). To get more information about attending or writing a submission call 416 325-7352.

A third reading means if cabinet passes the proposed Bill, to be introduced around the third week of September, it will become law.

While Marjorie Latimer and Cam Jackson are to be commended for advancing this Bill, I cannot help but wonder why a piece of legislation like this, aimed at protecting those who are least capable of defending themselves and possibly saving young lives, can take so long to process into law.

Why was it dropped in 2004?  Will it pass this time?  I'll let you know!

"ONE OF CANADA'S NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS"

Those are the words used by broadcasting icon Lloyd Robertson when describing the Burlington Teen Tour Band.  And that is in no way an exaggeration.

Formed in 1947 as a Youth Programme, sponsored by the Burlington Chamber of Commerce and under the capable direction of Elgin Corlett, from it's humble beginning above a store on Brant Street, the Burlington Teen Tour Band has grown into a major ambassador for the City of Burlington.

Today, under the very competent direction of Rob Bennett, Managing Director and Sir William Hughes, Director of Music, the band is known throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. The young people of the band between the ages of 13-21, usually numbering about 180 musicians have carried the name of Burlington, Ontario around the world.

Although the Music Centre and the Band are sustained by the City of Burlington through the Parks and Recreation Department, there is no public money spent on the Bands travels outside Burlington. Rob Bennett points out that trips to Holland and France for D Day Anniversary celebrations cost more than $500,000 each trip for the Band, Staff and chaperones.  All the funds for these trips were raised by the Band Boosters, parents and the Band members themselves.  Pretty incredible!

And don't think the Band is top heavy with management.  Rob Bennett is the only full time employee, while Sir William Hughes works part-time (which means he gets to sleep at home!) Both these men empasized the importance of having two wonderful Patrons in The Honourable Lincoln Alexander and General Richard Rohmer whose support has been invaluable.

And the Band simply could not function efficiently without the dedication of its volunteer Teen Tour Boosters, who make a huge commitment of time and money to be supporters of the Band and who train to become Chaperones when the Band is out of town. A visit to the Boosters website (www.bttbboosters.com) gives some insight to the dedication of these volunteers.

The Band website (www.teentourband.org) is full of the many destinations around the world that the Band has visited, awards and comments from Prime Ministers, MPs and other notables, but Ron and Sir William are quick to point out that while this very gratifying it is not what the Band is all about.

The emphasis is on developing pride and character in the young people who make up the Band and encouraging them to reach for higher levels of personal achievement.  The philosophy supporting the whole programme highlights the importance of the individual in work and co-operating with others, maintaining self-discipline, showing good sportsmanship and an eagerness to learn.

When the Band competes it is not to win more trophies and awards, it is to support and encourage the efforts of the young men and women in the Band who will benefit from the lessons learned as they go through their adult life.

A noble and tough challenge but one in which Rob Bennett and Sir William Hughes seem to thrive.  Burlington is lucky to have such dedicated men at the helm of one our city's major assets.

So next time you see the Band on parade think for a moment about the logistics of moving 160 Band members, plus their instruments,plus their luggage, plus about 30 staff and chaperones and their luggage by plane(s) overseas or by buses throughout Canada and the United States. As Rob says, it's not easy to stop at a highway restaurant and feed 210 people in an hour!

My hat's off to this dedicated group of people who represent Burlington so well.

Coming up fast...the Municipal Election

Perhaps you might wonder why I am writing about this subject during the warm, dog days of mid-August.  Fact of the matter is that the Burlington Municipal Election will be held on Monday, November 13.  Only 90 days away!

The purpose of this preliminary look at the local election is to start awareness of the fact that only 16.5% of the registered 118,000 voters turned out to vote in 2003.  This compares with 22.65% in 2000.   Surely we can do better than that.

There are probably at least two reasons for this low turnout 3 years ago:

1. In 2003 there were 7 acclamations on the slate for Councillors and School Boards including the Mayor.

2. Burlington is a very well run city.  The Mayor, Councillors and city staff do a commendable job in administering all aspects of the city.  Consequently there are not many major contentious issues in the community to catch the attention of the voters and compel them to vote. Sure, we do have a few issues such as the widening of Waterdown Road and the WalMart location at Brant and Fairview to name just two, but these tend to be parochial and not likely to attract widespread voter turnout.

This year there are not any acclamations.  We will have a new Mayor and at least two new Councillors and all Wards are contested.  The School Boards slates still have a few gaps as of August 8 but no doubt that will change in a month or so.

As of August 8 the following are the candidates for Mayor:

Rick Burgess. A  Lawyer with extensive service in our community

Stephen Kolcun. A young Burlington resident

Joan Lougheed. A 15 year veteran of Burlington Council

Philip Papadopoulos.  A Burlington businessman for 29 years

All these candidates and many of the candidates for Council have websites which can be viewed through the City of Burlington website at www.burlington.ca

It is to be hoped that these and other candidates will be able to generate enough interest during the campaign to improve the dismal voter showing of 2003.

That is the challenge!

Some years ago the Burlington Junior Chamber of Commerce/Jaycees ran a "Get out the vote" campaign which was very successful .  Maybe this is the time to do it again.  After all we are voting in our Council and School Board Chair and Trustees for 4 years.

Welcome to thespec.com's Burlington Life

Today it is Civic Holiday in Burlington, a welcome long weekend to catch up on the gardening and yard work which we couldn’t do during the recent heatwave.

While most of the holidays in Canada are self explanatory I realized that I didn’t know why today is called Civic Holiday and I was quite surprised at what I found out.

In 1869 Toronto City Council came up with the idea for a summer "Day of Recreation." In 1875, it was settled: the first Monday in August would be the official Civic Holiday.

That name stuck as other cities followed Toronto's leisure-loving example and proclaimed this a municipal (rather than provincial) holiday. But in 1968 Toronto City Council again took the lead and renamed the day to recognize one of Ontario's earliest historical figures, John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.

So in Burlington today we observe Civic Holiday, in Toronto it is Simcoe Day (while the rest of Ontario it’s Civic Holiday). In Nova Scotia it’s Natal Day, in New Brunswick it’s New Brunswick Day, Alberta call it Heritage Day, in the Yukon it’s Discovery Day and in BC it’s called British Columbia Day.

As Shakespeare said in Romeo & Juliet, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet”.

So enjoy your Civic Holiday; remember the next Holiday is Labour Day and we know what that means!