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The niqab has dominated this Federal Election like no other issue yet, curiously, the word does not rate a single mention in the 159 page Conservative Platform released today. But it has not been overlooked. We are told on page 152 that aspiring citizens will have to show their faces while taking the Oath of Citizenship.

In his bid for re-election, Stephen Harper hired the Australian, Lynton Crosby, to advise him on how to craft a winning campaign out of – let’s be honest – fairly unpromising material.

It looks as if the niqab is the dead cat of the 2015 Federal Election.

Crosby’s dead cat strategy was described in these terms by London Mayor, Boris Johnson, in 2013:

“If you’re losing an argument, if you’re in a weak position, throw a dead cat on the table…

“Everyone will shout ‘Jeez, mate, there’s a dead cat on the table!’; in other words they will be talking about the dead cat, the thing you want them to talk about, and they will not be talking about the issue that has been causing you so much grief.”

I learn from the Toronto Star today that only two women in the entire country have sought to take their citizenship vows whilst veiled. Whatever your views on the niqab – for, against or indifferent - it is perfectly clear a mountain has been built out of a molehill.

The Prime Minister insists on new rules for those wishing "to join the Canadian family". But what about enforcing the rules for those who have freely chosen to leave it?

Conrad Black renounced his Canadian citizenship to become a member of the British House of Lords. And when he was released from a US prison after serving three years for fraud he was given a temporary one year resident permit to enter Canada expiring in May 2013.

He is still here.

I wonder why.

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Details

The Provincial Government is currently reviewing the operation of the Municipal Act and is inviting comments from all who are interested. York Region has produced a response which is truly feeble.

Tomorrow (8 October 2015) our regional councillors and Mayors will rubber stamp a steady-as-she-goes staff report which urges them not to rock the boat.

The Province’s consultation paper has a section on "local representation" in which it specifically raises the issue of council chairs such as York Region's Wayne Emmerson who are not directly elected by the people in an election at large. 

The consultation paper says: 

"For regional municipalities, some of the changes they may make include: changing the method for how the head of council (eg regional chair) is elected; changing the way in which members of the upper tier council are selected (for example, directly elected to the upper tier)”

This fundamental issue is left unaddressed in the Region’s recommended response. In defending the status quo the staff could have said a region wide election for chair would, for example,  cost candidates too much money (John Taylor has previously voiced concerns about this) or that indirect election has its merits having thrown up stars such as Wayne Emmerson and Bill Fisch before him.

Mayors such as Tony Van Bynen go on the regional council automatically by virtue of their position, trousering around $50,000 in the process. Over the past year I could count on the fingers of one hand the times Van Trappist has made a contribution to the debate. Maybe he is influential behind the scenes. But should this practice of placing mayors on the regional council by virtue of their office continue or should there be open elections for all regional council seats? Again, this is left unaddressed.

The provincial consultation paper has three broad themes: Theme 1 is accountability and transparency. York region has no code of conduct for members saying this would merely duplicate what is already in place in the lower tier municipalities.

Suspended without pay

So, take the case of regional councillor Michael Di Biase who, earlier this year, was suspended without pay for 90 days from Vaughan Council for improperly interfering in the council's tendering processes. Throughout this period of suspension in Vaughan, Di Biase presumably continued to get his pay from York Region. Is that OK?

On the broader issue of transparency, York region must have one of the worst records in Canada. Its committee of the whole meetings - where important business is transacted - are not broadcast. And council meetings are broadcast in sound only - straight out of the 1950s. Making meetings accessible is an issue everywhere.

Theme 2 is all about municipal fiscal sustainability. The staff recommend a lot of detailed financial stuff which seems fair enough to me. They want powers to invest in US dollar securities and such like. It is though unfortunate that more isn’t done to discourage people from keeping property empty for long periods of time. Taxation should encourage the efficient use of property.

New taxes

York Region staff also want powers to impose new taxes. I am not necessarily against this. Councils have got to get their cash from somewhere.

"Two direct taxes that could, in meeting growth plan targets, be of interest to the region would be the vehicle ownership tax and parking tax. A vehicle ownership tax could not only provide the Region with additional revenue, but it should also help to encourage use of the rapid transit system. As Regional Express Rail comes online and services such as park-and-ride become more prevalent, a parking tax could become a revenue source to help fund transit investments."

Theme 3 looks at responsive and flexible municipal government. I see the Regional staff want to clarify powers regulating transit providers. In 2001 the Region took over responsibility for transit from the local municipalities.

"One issue that proved challenging is that there was no clear guidance on the status of contracts entered into by the local municipalities in connection with their local transit services. There were over one hundred associated contracts including bus service providers, maintenance contracts and advertising contracts. Many of these contracts did not contemplate that the authority for transit services would be assumed by a different entity."

All in all, the response is disappointingly thin. We shall see tomorrow if our regional councillors and mayors amend the submission in any important way or if they are content to let regional staff do their thinking for them.

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Details

If the Town is remotely serious about getting a new GO rail station at Mulock Drive it should buy the land it needs now. The site, already identified by Newmarket planners as a suitable location, is up for sale.  It was the home of the former Magna armoured vehicle facility.

The 15 acre site at 402 Mulock Drive is almost directly opposite the Town’s HQ. It is on the market for $7,995,000. The property details describe it as being adjacent to the hydro corridor and on the rail line though the spur is not currently in use. It is available immediately.

Metrolinx is now actively working on its new stations strategy for the Barrie line and will be drawing up a shortlist over the winter months 2015/16. They say the new station shortlist will be based on public consultation and further analysis.

Circles on a map

Who knows if there is anything more to the Town’s pitch for a new station at Mulock Drive than a few circles on the map? Are there background papers? Has any serious work been done? How has the proposal been developed and taken forward? Have any steps been taken in closed session to buy the land that is now available? If not, why not? The Chief Administrative Officer, Bob Shelton, may well have warned councillors of the perils of going down that road, telling them the Town is not in the business of railways. After all, he told them years ago in secret session that the Town was not in the business of running golf courses. And the open spaces of Glenway are now being built over.

A new GO rail station at Mulock Drive would be transformational - though getting the thumbs up from Metrolinx would be no easy matter. If the Town is coming from a standing start I fear it will be impossible.

Regional Express Rail promises fast frequent services and every station slows the journey down. Aurora, Mulock, Newmarket and East Gwillimbury come in quick succession. The arguments in favour of Mulock have got to be persuasive.

Safeguarding the GO rail station site

When Metrolinx gave its presentation to York Region's Committee of the Whole on 10 September, our Regional Councillor, John Taylor, asked if there were any provisions for safeguarding land that might be needed for a future GO rail station. The answer is no. New stations are not funded beyond those already planned.

York Region’s response to the Metrolinx Regional Express Rail plan does not flag up Mulock Drive as a priority. Indeed it is not mentioned at all except by way of another circle on Map 11 of the Regional Official Plan where it is one of “a number of new stations recommended for inclusion in the GO Transit network”.

All this shouldn’t come as a bolt from the blue to councillors. The Town’s Planning Department has an important horizon scanning function and they have been drawing little circles on maps of Mulock Drive for years.

Planning chief, Rick Nethery, must have known what was coming down the track. It’s time he shared his insights with the rest of us. Time is running out.

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Details

The second of three so-called “public planning meetings” on the Highland Gate development in the neighbouring town of Aurora is a dispiriting affair. The developer, the Geranium Corporation, wants to build 184 houses and a ten storey condo on land identified as open space in the Town’s Official Plan.

Residents of the high-end neighbourhood stream into the cavernous cafeteria of the Maximilian Kolbe Catholic School on Wednesday (30 September) like lambs to the slaughter. They are to hear more about the fate that shortly awaits them. The former golf course which threads its way through this prosperous enclave is, like Glenway, going to be developed.

The Town’s planning committee is up on stage sitting impassively, Bhudda like. The Mayor Geoffrey Dawe, is presiding. He says they won’t be making any decisions tonight. They are there to listen and silently cogitate. The Mayor tells people they must first register to speak from the microphone as if everyone has come along with a prepared script. And he says the meeting is being video recorded. Just to make sure everything is done by the book. What I am witnessing is the ultimate box ticking exercise. I am chatting to the man beside me who tells me the Town is just going through the motions. I nod.

Greasing the wheels

The developer and his satraps are out in force. The lawyers (Ira Kagan of Glenway fame is here, inevitably) and the planners and sundry consultants who grease the developer’s wheels stand at the back of the hall in case they are called upon to give expert advice.

The Town – whose collective mind is obviously already made up – loads its website with huge amounts of information explaining what is being proposed and the process that will be followed.

One of the Town’s planning staff kicks off with a presentation, explaining what the developer has in mind. Now he reports on what other agencies think. It is a long list and most have no objections. I see York Region up on the screen and it too has no objections. This does not surprise as the chief planner, Val Shuttlesworth, has talked publicly about former golf courses being suitable candidates for infill development.

The residents have no allies. They are on their own.

Don Given, for the developer, wants the audience to believe he is all sweet reason. 50% of the land is to be left as open space and conveyed to the municipality. All the lots will be at least 50 feet and the new houses will be of comparable quality to those there now. 44 agreements have already been struck between residents and the developer, safeguarding their properties with additional planting and new grading where necessary.

Now a long line of residents waits to be called to the rostrum. They are, in turn,  impassioned, agitated, frustrated but their words are absorbed into the giant on-stage sponge that is the Planning Committee. No response. No reaction. We are told that all comments and observations will be considered and analysed with answers given in due course. I could be listening to Tony Van Bynen.

Highland Gate residents scream quietly

I hear Chris McGowan, a scientist and full Professor at the University of Toronto, call for green spaces to be preserved. We get a mini-lecture on the importance of ponds to the eco-system and how the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority doesn’t understand basic science. All very entertaining in a whacko kind of way.

Now Linda O’Connell is reeling off a list of concerns from light pollution to the increased risk of child abduction. My eyes roll heavenwards.

Gary Grierson follows, speaking on behalf of many elderly residents who are worried about traffic and people queuing up at Tim Horton’s and much else besides. He is breathing heavily, full of pent up rage, and I am relieved he gets through his presentation without keeling over. Now William Hayes wants to know the cost of hooking up the development to the Town’s existing water, wastewater and other services. He too has a long list of questions that disappear into the sponge.

Glenway is held up as a model

Now it is the turn of Klaus Wehrenberg. I learn he has been a resident of Aurora for 45 years. With his heavily German accented English and a bushy grey beard extending down to his navel, he is, I suspect, an Aurora institution. If not, he deserves to be.

He tells us they have an opportunity to develop an amazing linear park! If people reject the developer’s proposals they will be playing into his hands. A straight rejection of what is on offer will favour the developer at the OMB. As if to illustrate his point he waves his arm to get a promo of Glenway up on the screen.

We can begin every day with WOW! Just like Glenway.

It is only 75 minutes into what will probably be a long meeting. The residents are no longer furious; they are resigned. They come over as supplicants pleading with the developer to consider modifying this and that.

I hear no-one demand the Town stand alongside them to defend their neighbourhood and the Official Plan. But that probably happened at the first public meeting – the one where people were no doubt encouraged to vent.

At this point I decide to slip out into the night.

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Update on 16 October 2015: The third and final public planning meeting will be held at 6.30pm on Wednesday 28 October 2015 at St Maximilian Kolbe Catholic High School, Aurora.

 

Details

Metrolinx will be giving its much anticipated presentation on Regional Express Rail to Newmarket councillors at the Committee of the Whole on Monday 9 November 2015.

Metrolinx gave an update to York Region councillors on 10 September. The slides and commentary can be found in documents. (Top left panel and navigate to Metrolinx).

Remarkably, no-one present at that meeting asked the obvious questions - whether the Barrie line would be twinned tracked along its length or if the railway corridor would have to be widened at any point. I hope these matters will be addressed in November if there is still any uncertainty.

Councillors will also want to ask for an update on grade separations (how many, where and when) and the possible inclusion in Metrolinx’s plans of a new GO rail station at Mulock Drive.

We should enthusiastically welcome this huge civil engineering project and the thinking behind it. But the Town needs to be proactive and not just sit back and wait to be told what to expect.

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