Halton Hills ranked 37th Best Place to Live in Canada

Moneysense magazine has ranked Canadian municipalities with populations over 10,000 according to its criteria for making a community a great place to live. Ranking 37 out of 190 is interesting but we need to look at what those indicators are and how the scoring works to understand what it means. The link to find out how system worked can be found at the end of this article.

How can we account for Halton Hills being 37th whereas Vancouver is ranked 56?

The 190 municipalities were ranked on the following criteria: Walking/Biking to Work, Affordable Housing, Household Income, Discretionary Income, New Cars, Population Growth, Low Crime, Doctors per 1,000, Weather, Jobless Rate and Culture. 

Ottawa came out as number 1 for the 3rd year in a row. Congratulations to Burlington for being number 2.
You might expect that these communities would be near the top in all of the rankings but in fact they are moderate for the most part and great in one or two categories.  In the case of Burlington what really helped was that their Crime Rate was ranked number 3 and the weather was number 1. The Crime Rate is a Halton Regional number so Halton Hills shared the 3rd place ranking with Burlington, Oakville and Milton.

Vancouver was 190th, or worst for Affordable Housing but they were number 1 for Culture.

We all have different reasons for choosing where we live. Our own survey showed that  Halton Hills residents value our small town feel above all else. The Moneysense survey didn't ask people why they chose to live where they did but rather tried to identify what those reasons might be.

Interestingly, some of the things not measured were Taxes, Population Density, Condition of Roads, Parks and Recreation Opportunities, Transportation System or Diversity.

I wonder what you would put for your criteria to determine the best place the live? Would you weight them all equally?

http://list.moneysense.ca/rankings/best-places-to-live/2012/Default.aspx?sp2=4&sc1=0&d1=a

SUSTAINABILITY - WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?



Sustainability Committee Meeting - March 1 2012


On Monday night Halton Hills Council will approve engaging consultants to move the Town’s Sustainability Project forward to a conclusion by the end of this summer.


Many communities in Canada and around the world are tackling the issue of sustainability by producing plans to help them achieve their goals.

In Halton Hills, Mayor Bonnette initiated our Town Sustainability Advisory Committee last year. Residents representing a vast array of interests and expertise were recruited and given the task of figuring out what sustainability meant and how we should proceed towards creating a plan.

In the past year, this committee made several important recommendations, one of which was to take this process as far as possible themselves without the assistance of an outside consultant. They formed 4 committees and proceeded to define goals that would address the following 4 major areas of interest: environmental, social, economic and cultural. These have now been dubbed the 4 Pillars of Sustainability.

Last Wednesday evening the committee and members of the sub-committees assembled to present their vision and goals. It was impressive to see amount of thought that each group had devoted to each area of inquiry.

Now the job is to take these goals and test them with the wider community to see if they are meaningful to our residents and businesses and then come up with an implementation plan. The task is beyond the ability of our volunteers and so now expert assistance is necessary.

Considering that we are spending $50,000 on the consultants it is important that we all understand what sustainability is and why we are bothering. In the end, what will be different?

Locally, Sustainability grew out of the Mayor’s Green Plan which looked at how the Town could reduce its use of non-renewable resources and was focused entirely on environmental goals.

I think of Sustainability as looking at the overall well-being and vitality of our community by identifying the social, cultural and economic aspirations of our residents. Using a sustainability framework these goals are constantly tested against the underlying and ever-present environmental goals. It also works in reverse with the environmental aspirations being tested against the social, cultural and economic goals.

Normally the 4 pillars are portrayed as being equal and demanding of equal attention. In a perfect world these 4 pillars would be in balance. But in the real world we could expect them to be out of balance. The important thing is to have a decision making process in place that forces one to consider all four pillars and to think about the long term implications for achieving and retaining the desired balance.

The goal in the end is to make decisions, on an ongoing basis, that ensures Halton Hills continues to be a great place to live and work while at the same time reducing our environmental impact and if anything, improving our local environment.

Fluoridation of Halton's Water Confirmed After 10 Hour Debate

Yesterday Halton Regional Council debated the merits of continuing to fluoridate our public water supply. After nearly 10  hours and 29 delegations, the final decision was unclear until the moment the vote was called. In an 11 to 9 vote the decades long practice of adding fluoride to Halton's drinking water was confirmed.

Regional Council previously debated this issue in November of 2008. The decision at that time was to defer further consideration until Health Canada had finished its review of the research literature . It has taken a further 3 years of waiting but at last we do have the benefit of this thorough analysis. Health Canada concluded that fluoridation at the recommended level of .7ppm is safe, and effective in reducing the number of cavities in the general population.

During the last 6 months a steady stream of emails came to my 'in box'  imploring me to vote against fluoridation. On the other hand vast amounts of research data also arrived at my home courtesy of our Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Bob Nosal.  I also followed the fluoride debates as they popped up around the world from Florida, to Maine and Windsor to Auckland.
The 10 hour marathon meeting was quite extraordinary in that all  20 Regional Councillors were fully engaged throughout the day as delegation after delegation presented their particular point of view. Expert delegates included Dr. Peter Cooney, Chief Dental Officer, Health Canada, Dr. Arlene King, Ontario Chief medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Wood, Royal College of Dentists of Canada, Professor U of T.
The list went on and on of expert advisers who repeatedly reminded us of several pertinent points;

• Dental caries (cavities) is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases and as such it is also associated with many other diseases and poor health
• Scientific evidence must be weighted by its quality and applicability. In brief a study using humans is attributed a higher weight than a study using animals. In the case of fluoride we have ample opportunity to test it with humans. 
• Thorough reviews of the literature such as was done by Health Canada conclude that fluoride is effective at reducing cavities and that fluoride at the recommended concentration does not cause the myriad of diseases that are sometimes attributed to it 
• 90 national and international health and dental health organizations support fluoridation ( including Health Canada and the World Health Organization)
• Any substance in the wrong dosage can be poisonous. One can literally die from drinking too much water. As Dr. Wood illustrated, a bottle of tylenol pills will kill you but 2 pills will have a beneficial effect by reducing pain. It is all about the appropriate dosage. 
• The fluoride in toothpaste should be treated with respect as it is much much more concentrated than what is in the water. So much so that great care should be taken to not swallow it. 
• Water fluoridation is the great equalizer in that the poor who do not have dental plans or available funds for dental work benefit the most due to the reduced rate of dental decay. 

There were of course many delegations who called for Halton to stop fluoridation. Their presentations were of interest and raised many questions. One recurring theme was the desire to have choice. It was also apparent that many are inadvertently making the choice by switching to bottled water. Dentists have noticed that the trend to bottled water has caused an increase in cavities and weakened tooth enamel in those making this choice.

In the end I chose to support fluoridation of our water supply because I believe it is wise to rely on the advice of experts who were unanimous in their support of the practice. At the same time I asked our MOH Dr. Nosal to revisit the information that we provide in our Pre Natal Classes. I think it is incumbent on us to inform new parents of the hazards of fluoride for infants. They need to know that young children should either use unfluoridated toothpaste or they should use only a very small amount of fluoridated toothpaste where they are taught to never swallow it.

If anyone is interested, the full 10 hours of the meeting can be viewed on the Region's website, http://www.halton.ca/cms/One.aspx?portalId=8310&pageId=72892
Should you actually take a look at it, I think you will be impressed by desire of Regional Councillors to fully understand the issue and come to an informed decision. Although many think that a health issue of such importance should be the purview of the provincial level of government, I believe that Halton Region handled it exceptionally well.

Royal Botanical Gardens Receives Financial Shot in the Arm

MP Mike Wallace and MPP Ted McMeekin Announce Funding

This morning I attended the much anticipated and welcome announcement of infrastructure funding at the Royal Botanical Gardens. MP Mike Wallace announced $7million in Federal Funding. Minister Ted McMeekin MPP announced a matching $7million. The $14 million funding is for the rejuvenation of the famous Rock Garden at RBG.
As an  RBG Board member, I am thrilled with the announcement. This funding is badly needed as the Rock Garden has structural problems that need immediate fixing, such as the septic and irrigation systems.
The Rock Garden is actually located in Hamilton whereas the RBG Centre, in the photo above is located in Burlington and is therefore in Halton Region.
The Rock Garden gets rave reviews but it is the things that are unseen by the public that were a concern to the RBG staff. The overhaul is long overdue and will add new vitality to what is the anchor tourist attraction in the Region. $14 million will make a huge difference to the RBG in a similar vein to the addition of the award winning  Camilla and Peter Dalglish Atrium, pictured above  and the adjacent Aldershot Escarpment Garden.

Georgetown Bach Chorale Offers Gorgeous Performance

Antique Harpishord

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Georgetown Bach Chorale's 2011 Christmas Concert at the lavishly decorated residence of their conductor, Ron Greidanus.
It is hard to say who stole the show as there were several worthy candidates. Was it the eye popping decorations that reportedly take a week to install? Or perhaps the readings of the always entertaining  Vera Macdonald and Yvonne Oldaker? Or could it be the haunting rendition of Silent Night?
All three were the subject of much discussion at a social event following the presentation.
The residential venue itself is unique with beamed cathedral ceilings, mellow paneling and stone hearths all aglow with thousands of baubles and flickering candles.
The musical offerings had their origins in English, Irish and Basque traditions accompanied by Ron Greidanus on harpsichord and Avery Maclean on recoder.
The evening offered a unique and enjoyable Christmas experience rarely found in communities this size.

GDHS Music Students Overcome Loss of Teacher With Impressive Performance

On Friday December 9th Georgetown District High School lost a great teacher and mentor when Ms Eleanor Wallace was transferred without notice to another school. Ms Wallace provided 28 years of dedicated excellent leadership to the music students at GDHS. Through those years the GDHS bands garnered many awards of merit in provincial and national competitions.
My daughter was a band member for 5 years and so I was well aware of the wonderful program available to our local students. It was definitely one of the most rewarding aspects of high school for my daughter.
Plans for the GDHS Christmas concert had to be completely reworked when it turned out that no teachers would be available to lead the bands and choir. Although the students were distraught over the loss of their beloved teacher, they rallied by deciding to put on the show by themselves.
I was invited by the students to attend their concert and took them up on the invitation. It was one of my best decisions of the year.
I have attended many GDHS concerts but this was an outstanding one. It had been billed as "A Classy Christmas" and it certainly was.
The very poised master of ceremonies welcomed us and introduced the first performance.
The Wind Ensemble, all 60 members filed onto the stage quietly, sat and awaited their student conductor, Geoff Chen. The tuxedo clad Chen strode onto the stage, bowed to the audience and then took control of the Ensemble.
And then it began - a  performance to make a teacher proud. The students obviously intended to pay tribute to their teacher and illustrate the passion and musical precision that had been instilled in them . They certainly succeeded.
Each band and choir was lead by a different student conductor and each time the musicians paid close attention and performed marvellously.
And just to take it over the top, we were treated to a string quartet performing chamber music, a gifted opera singer belting out an aria in Russian no less, and finally a showstopping performance of Rachmaninoff  by Grade 12 concert pianist Thomas Dobrovich. Wow!

It is sad that these kids have lost their leader but on the bright side, they have had the benefit of wonderful mentorship and inspiration. They have proven that great leadership produces great results. Wherever inspiration shows up the kids respond. And now these kids have proven to themselves what they are capable of and that will serve them well throughout their lives.
Thank you Ms Wallace for making such a huge difference in the lives of hundreds of grateful students.

New bridge links North and South Hungry Hollow Trails

Pictured above is the new installed bridge that links the north side (Dawson Cres.) and south side (Miller Drive) trails through Hungry Hollow in Georgetown. Also shown is construction under way on the boardwalk on the north side. The boardwalk is necessary to protect the delicate environment and make the trail passable during wet weather.

This new link will be welcome by all of the trail users since it doubles the trails that are available from any entry point to the trails network.

In conversation with the contractors I heard that virtually every resident who has approached the construction site has commented on how pleased they are that the Town is investing in the valley. This is great feedback. It isn't surprising since anyone who has walked these trails will appreciate what a treasure we have in this valley and how accessible it has become with the formalization of the trails.

Providing our residents with the ability to stroll through a natural area in a valley setting allows them to escape the hustle and bustle of urban life. Suddenly you can hear the birds singing. Most of the time you can't see any housing or buildings of any kind. You would be hard pressed to know exactly where you are. It really is a great escape.

Congratulations to our Town staff for designing this wonderful project and thanks to our contractors for doing such a great job with very limited damage to the surrounding area.