 By James Burchill
January 5th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
How To Write Kick-Ass, Profit Pulling Adverts For Your Business
Doesn’t that just grab you by the eyeballs and make you stop dead in your tracks? I mean it’s a little harsh – grammatically speaking – but holy smokes, it does it have ‘stopping power’…
 Diving right in – Photo byFiona Brophy Now I’ll share with you a few secrets for creating good adverts. So let’s dive right in because we’re all busy people 😉
First you need to be introduced to AIDA.
– A stands for ATTENTION, as in get some or you lose your chance
– I stands for INTEREST, as in now keep me interested.
– D stands for DESIRE, as in ok, make me want what you’ve got.
– A stands for ACTION, because people need to take action for something to happen.
Got it? That’s all there is to it…Easy right?
If it were that easy we’d all be rich and you wouldn’t need marketing consultants like me. Truthfully, just invest a few thousand hours studying, read all the classic books on advertising that date as far back as 1920 (when advertising really became a science) and you’ll have the subject down cold.
On the off-chance you don’t have that much free time, I’ll give you some wickedly powerful pointers that will let you leapfrog over the other guys. So let’s begin…
Headlines R Us (or is that You?)
It all starts with a headline. You know, the first thing the prospect sees. The title at the top of the page, that’s the headline. The first few words they hear on the radio, that’s a ‘headline’ too. Take this article for example, the headline was the first thing you saw. A good headline can almost stand alone and you just ‘get it’. It’s an advert for the advert.
Studies have shown the headline results in approximately 80% of the results. So the headline makes all the difference. In one test a changed headline improved response over 2000% (over 21 times!)
Here’s an example of a really bad headline… YOUR COMPANY NAME
 Your company name is not a headline. That’s right, your company name is not a good headline. In fact your name, your contact details, how long you’ve been in business and all those other boring bits of data you often put at the top of adverts, is a waste of time…and money UNTIL the prospect wants to know who you are – only then are they important.
Next…Make Them An Offer They Can’t Refuse
Then you have to make a good offer. Don’t beat around the bush. People are busy, your headline stopped them, now they’re looking – so make your pitch. Give them the best you’ve got. Make them an offer they can’t refuse…
Describe the benefits of having your product or service in a way that the prospect can experience. Don’t focus on the specific features – focus on benefits. People buy benefits. Here’s an example:
[Feature] 1/4 Inch Masonry Drill Bit.
[Benefit] 1/4 Inch hole… Probably to hang a picture – so the real benefit was admiring the picture or proving to your spouse that you really are handy around the home…
Finally…Action!
And once you’ve helped them see themselves experiencing your product or service tell them what you want them to do – call, click or visit today. Or words to that effect. Remember, advertising that does anything other than sell is a waste of money for most of us – brand advertising is expensive.
 This a headline – outrageous and direct. You probably read it twice and you might even mention it to someone. Because headlines are so critical to the success of your adverts I wanted to sign-off with this formula for a good headline: SINC (Self Interest, Curiosity & News).
If you can make the headline show the reader what’s in it for them, make them curious to read more, and share something newsworthy you’ve likely got a winner on your hands.
Remember, the money is ALWAYS in the headline.
 James Burchill is the founder of Social Fusion Network – an organization that helps local business connect and network. He also writes about digital marketing, entrepreneurship and technology and when he’s not consulting, he teaches people to start their own ‘side hustle.’
 By Marianne Mead Ward
January 2nd, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
Any time there’s a proposal to close a school, things are bound to get a bit bumpy.
Witness the uproar over Burlington Central High School (BCHS) students holding “Save Central High School” signs as part of their school float in the Santa Claus Parade. Enter “Float-gate.”
The Burlington Post ran an article raising concerns (as well as support) for the students’ actions, and followed that up with an editorial criticizing the students.
 Students in the Santa Claus parade. The mayor pledged to review the city’s policies. The students were accused of “politicizing” the event – never mind that elected officials ride in it every year – rather than praised for raising awareness about what’s happening in our own community and how they feel about it.
The majority of residents I heard from supported the students, as did I. As one resident summed it up: It’s okay to commercialize the parade with businesses, but not a student group advocating for their community. Huh?
Witness also the (lesser) uproar over my appointment on the Program & Accommodation Review Committee (PARC) studying the proposed school closures. I took heat from some of my colleagues and online commenters for accepting the Parent Council’s nomination as one of two parent representative for BCHS, where my son attends.
Keep politics out of it, was the theme, including from the mayor, who believes elected officials should stay out of this and chose the city manager as the municipal representative on the PARC.
Our city manager, James Ridge, will be terrific and I look forward to working with him. But the mayor missed an opportunity to sit on the committee himself and represent the entire community. I met with the mayor in advance to encourage him to be on the committee, and also spoke about this publicly during the council vote, so reading it here won’t be a surprise.
Why raise these two incidents? First, there seems to be an aversion to anything labelled “political” – which is a terrible way to treat our democracy.
Everything about the school closure process is already political. Elected trustees will make the final decision on any school closures, based on policies set by an elected provincial government. Governments advocate to different levels all the time. Several Ontario city councils are taking tangible action to save their schools. More on that in a future post. Earlier this year, a fellow councillor and myself both delegated at a meeting of Catholic trustees considering elementary school closures in Burlington. Happily, trustees voted not to close any schools.
All of this is democracy in action. Call it politics if you will, but people fought and died for the rights we enjoy to elect and expect our representatives to listen to us, and advocate for us.
Second, notice the criticism isn’t about the issue, the proposal to close schools, but rather about the manner in which people choose to be involved in that issue. This, too, is an attack on democracy. Every time someone is criticized for speaking up or getting involved, it creates a chilling effect on others doing likewise. Safer to keep your head down, and stay out of the issues. You won’t draw fire.
But you also won’t achieve much for your community. This is not a time for elected officials, our young people, or anyone to sit on the sidelines. We all must step up, get involved, and work for the best outcome for our students and our entire community.
Yes, it may get a bit bumpy. So it should. Schools are the heart of communities. We should care passionately about what happens in our schools, and to our schools. With passion, comes differing perspectives. Let’s welcome the discussion.
 Central high school students and parents on the GO train to a demonstration in front of Queen’s Park. Thank goodness our students are bold and bright and won’t be silenced. They showed courage in going public with their views and doing what they can to raise awareness to save their school. We should be celebrating these students, and encouraging all our young citizens to follow suit. These kids are embracing and acting on the privileges that come with living in a democracy. You make our community proud!
The final recommendation and decision by the trustees could be very different from the initial recommendation to close Central, close Pearson HS and make other program and boundary changes. It could be your school proposed to close instead.
 Marianne Meed Ward is the city Councillor for ward 2. She is serving her second term on city council. Central high school is located in ward 2.
 By Pepper Parr
January 1st, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
One of the reasons we do what we do at the Gazette is to record what happens in the city. That doesn’t always result in our making a lot of friends – that isn’t our job.
At times it is tiring – Burlington has been poorly served by media in the past ten years – it doesn’t have a radio station, the one local television station tends to focus on Hamilton – its home base. While there was a time when print was very evident in Burlington- that is not the case today.
In the five years plus we have been publishing, first as Our Burlington, then we re-branded and now use the name Gazette, we have listened to hundreds of citizens delegate to their city Councillor’s
News is news – at times it is fun to publish; on other occasions it is disappointing to report on what city council has decided to do or what an agency decides to do.
But there are times when ordinary people who care, who are passionate and have no self interest in what they are saying or writing comes to the attention of the public.
It was our pleasure to write about and report on what Tom Muir and Jim Young had to say during a debate on the amount of time citizens would be permitted to speak when addressing city council. Their words were, without a doubt to this writer, the wisest words heard in the council chamber during 2016. Something we could all be very proud of.
My colleague, Joan Little at the Spectator, described Tom Muir as “acerbic”. That would be about right. Tom does his research and as he said in his delegation – he has been doing this for more than 20 years.
The issue before council was a motion to reduce the amount of time a citizen could spend delegating before a standing committee be reduced from 10 minutes to five minutes.
In November 2016 Muir said the following:
 Tom Muir: Acerbic for sure but still one of the best delegators the city has. “I would hope that Council votes in favor of the 10 minutes unanimously, as a show of good faith. I will say that a vote to reduce to 5 minutes is something I see as an insult to citizens and their possible contribution to what we do as a city – our city.”
“Further, if Councillors still want to vote down the 10 minutes, I say this. If you are so tired of and frustrated by, listening to the views of the people that elected you, then maybe you have been doing this job too long and should quit. I mean that, and will not forget how this vote goes tonight. “
“This Council is not your Council; it is the people’s Council.
“And these Council Chambers are not your Chambers, but are equally, the people’s Chambers. All the Councillors and Councils hold these offices and chambers in trust.
“So to vote to reduce the people’s time to speak in these chambers is to fail in that trust, in my opinion.
I ask therefore; herein fail not.”
No doubt what Muir was saying.
Jim Young, a man with a delightful Scottish brogue made his point very clearly. Jim was a little more philosophical but his words were no less pointed.
 Jim Young – delegating to city council. “When you deny constituents the reasonable opportunity to advise you during council term at meetings such as this, you leave them no other option but to voice their frustrations through the ballot box at election time.
Look at recent election results, where voters vented their frustration at the perception that politicians are not listening, do not provide the opportunity for citizens to be heard, a perception that has given voice to the Fords, the Trumps and the Brexiteers who, bereft of policy or vision or even civil discourse, at least pretend to listen, pretend they will be the voice of the people.
Then proceed to undo all the good that has been done, the community that has been built by that slow and frustrating democratic process.
So far this delegation has taken about 5 minutes, and with more to say, I hope you can understand how limiting 5 minutes can be.
I will finish by challenging each of you who wish to limit the participation of citizens in the affairs of our city:
Will you please explain to this gathering tonight how limiting delegations to 5 minutes is good for our democracy, good for our city?
Will you then publish that explanation in your Newsletter for all your constituents to see and to judge for themselves?
Will you stand at your regular town hall gatherings and tell the people of your wards why you want to silence their voice?
Because you will stand before them in 2018 and they will demand to know.
If you cannot, in conscience, address your constituents on this issue, then you have accept an amendment to rescind that decision and restore the full 10 minute allotment for citizen delegations, or better still do the right thing and propose such an amendment yourself.
The opportunity to listen to these two men and then report on what they had to say made all the trials and tribulations of the past few years’ worth every minute of it all.
 Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven Council voted 6-1 to maintain the 10 minute time allocation for delegations at Standing Committees. Councillor Craven was opposed.
The motion to limit the time to be available came out of a committee made up of Councillors Craven, Taylor and Lancaster. Craven is what he is; Lancaster doesn’t know any better, Taylor should be ashamed.
 By Ray Rivers
January 19th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
America’s first black president. That is how Barack Hussein Obama will be remembered in the history books. His 2008 campaign logo, “Yes We Can”, was forgotten long ago. People might well ask what it really meant anyway.
 The best orator the Western World has heard in decades. It’s not that he was a bad president, like Nixon, the crook, or GW Bush, the war monger, or even Bill Clinton, the womanizer. Having achieved the highest honour the nation could bestow, he was someone to look-up to for his meteoric rise to power, particularly if the ones looking were non-white Americans.
Trump’s people called him an elite, and he was. He was consumed with the bigger picture, worried about the ins and outs and the every detail of everything he did. Analysis, vision and debate are his strengths. Articulate and a great speaker even if his speeches were dotted with enough pregnant pauses to start a new family. He’ll do well in academia and on the speaker circuit in days to come.
Obama, the idealist was also a compromiser, the art of the deal, something Trump should appreciate. Though history may disprove of his deals. His Obamacare was neither an efficient single payer system nor a purely private affair between an insurer and the patient. His was a costly compromise which will be axed, deservedly by the new administration.
 President Bush meets in the Oval Office with Former President Jimmy Carter, Former President George H.W. Bush, Former President William J. Clinton, and the President-elect Sen. Barack Obama, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. (Doug Mills/ The New York Times) He settled for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons in lieu of the destruction of its leader, and set up, for failure, the rebels he’d promised to support. In the interest of minimizing American casualties he fought the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen with drones or precision jet fighters and proxies, hurting but never really eliminating his enemies.
True enough, he succeeded in rescuing the US economy after the crash in 2008. And he got bin Laden. But he choked when it came to Russia, giving sway to that global lesser power in Syria and Ukraine. Having won the Nobel peace prize, in large part for his commitment to work towards the elimination of nuclear weapons, he should have made Ukraine a real red line.
 The expressions on their faces tells the story; there was no respect between these two men. After all Ukraine, once with the third largest nuclear stockpile, gave up its weapons in exchange for written guarantees of security from the USA, UK and Russia, guarantees which were ignored by all the signatories following Russia’s invasion and occupation of Crimea and eastern Ukraine. In the face of that breach of trust why would any nation hesitate to develop its own nuclear defence arsenal, as North Korea has done?
There was the Paris climate change agreement which the US signed on, and on which Trump promises to white-out the words USA, once in office. And there was the multilateral Iran deal which Trump would like to re-negotiate but can’t – though everyone knows it is only a matter of time until Iran has its own nukes. And Cuba finally got formal diplomatic recognition, though GITMO is still operating and Guantanamo Bay is still occupied by the Americans, and the Cubans are wary that one day soon their little bit of progress will get Trumpled.
 President Barack Obama receives a standing ovation from guests as he is introduced by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, Wednesday, June 29, 2016. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)
This relatively unimpressive record is reflected in his mixed popularity numbers. And in the end it’s hard to figure out what all the commotion was about, and why the celebrities loved him. But then, how many US presidents were really that much better? Maybe the problem is that being head of state and head of government is too big a job for one person – the imperfect American political system. Or maybe his heart wasn’t really in it after all – to be the leader of the free world.
They say it’s hard to turn around a big ship in a short water, but eight years in office is still a long time. Did he just give up convincing the Republicans and so many Americans of the wisdom of his ways, particularly after he lost Congress mid-way though his first term? That was perhaps his biggest failure – his inability to get people to share his vision, be they the Congressional Republicans, the Russians and Chinese or even the Israeli leadership which, despite its unveiled acrimony, will be receiving its largest US aid package ever under Obama.
Finally having helped elect one of their own, what did black Americans get out of this contract? To be fair Obama only ever promised to lift ethnic minorities with the same wave that lifted all the ships in the good fleet America. Still, today with a near booming economy, home ownership is on the decline generally and black ownership has fallen from 46% in 2009 to 43% 2014.
The poverty rate for blacks is 26% and fewer than half young black men have full time jobs, though unemployment has fallen to pre-2008 levels. But the median ethnic minority family’s income, at $18,100, is 20% lower than when Obama took office. At the same time national median wealth has increased by 1% to $142,000. And while white households were 7 times wealthier than black households back then, they are now 8 times richer.
 Michelle and Barack changed the way the world saw Presidential couple; she added to the Jackie legacy. At the least one would have expected America’s first black president to have made an effort to raise the standard of living of those in need who share his minority status. Or was ‘Yes We Can’ just about winning the election. I’ll be expecting a better performance from Michelle Obama after she wins the presidential campaign in 2020. It should be an easy win in light of the upcoming Trump legacy.
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington in 1995. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links
Obama and African Americans – Obama and Syria – Obama and Drones –
Obama Foreign Policy –
Obama’s Popularity –
By Ray Rivers
December 29, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
2016 was an annus horribilis, what with stars (Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Glen Frey, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds) dropping like flies, the terrorist acts across Europe, American black lives which didn’t seem to matter, and the murderous Russian destruction of Aleppo.
 To our everlasting shame – we let this happen. It was also a bad year for prognosticators and pollsters of all stripes, what with Brexit and Trump being such unexpected outcomes. The knee jerk response is to blame those making the predictions. Were they reading bad tea leaves or were they just plain incompetents?
But to be fair, we know that polls are more than just descriptive instruments, they can actually influence outcomes – as seems to have been the case in the UK and US this past year. Some people look to a poll before voting, much like farmers do their weather vane before cutting hay. A poll one way or the other may influence their voting decisions. It may encourage folks to go out to just help get someone elected, or it might keep them at home grumbling that one more vote won’t make a difference.
And of those who do make it to the polling stations, some will jump onto a band wagon and some others will register their own little protest – the so-called contagion and strategic voting responses. The independent or rogue voters are typically non-conformist, anti-establishment or anti-elite (todays buzz word), and will support the underdog, maverick, and outsider.
Meanwhile sports-minded folks, who like to cheer for the winning team, almost regardless, will just go with the flow. And nobody should say that voters are either stupid or uninformed, even when they seem to be voting against their own best interests. They may not be able to articulate what each candidate or party really stands for and how that would affect them, but they know what they don’t like regardless how they got that impression. And typically they like change, especially if its back to the future.
 Bernie Sanders: what if he had won the Democratic nomination? So instead of blaming the voters and the pollsters when their dreams go sour, the party leaders should reflect on themselves. They weren’t doing the one thing you have to do to win in politics – listen. Michigan was a case in point – a deja vu. That traditionally democratic state had opted for the outsider Bernie Sanders despite front running Clinton’s lead in the primary polls. Why wouldn’t the party oligarchs have contemplated a repeat when running against the outsider Trump – as did happen?
And thanks to that election south of the border, Canada’s biggest challenge this coming year will be coordinating trade policy with its southern neighbours. Trump’s utterances on NAFTA , climate change and pipelines, if actualized, will present a mixed bag for us, economically and politically. For example, the Keystone XL will be approved but it may not actually move Alberta oil since one of Trump’s goals is energy self-sufficiency and reducing imports.
And if Trump follows though on tearing up the US commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, our PM will face pressure to back off the carbon tax and possibly other environmental issues. And then there is the future of NATO. But Trump has to contend with his Republican Congress, whose members are currently closer to the other party than they are to their own leader. So expect to see some big league back-peddling – or a war within his own party.
 Justin Trudeau wowing them in Burlington during a campaign stop. At least Trudeau is very much in charge here, but how does he meet his promise to change the first-past-the-post electoral system when his own Parliamentary committee has recommended a solution (proportional representation and referendum) which cannot realistically be implemented before E-day 2019?
Anybody wanna bet he’ll defer that decision to whoever wins the next election and implement a preferential ballot as an interim measure – hoping that ‘whoever’ is Trudeau?
And what of that Conservative nomination process? Is Kevin O’Leary really trying to re-create himself as the Canadian Donald Trump? That would be his third persona after posing alternately as a shark and a dragon. And it may be his to lose as the rank and file Tories will be looking for a Mr. Wonderful of their own. And what could be more wonderful than a dragon, as TV viewers anxiously await the restart of Game of Thrones?
 Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne speaks at the hearings into the gas plant cancellations at Queen’s Park in Toronto on December 3, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch Ontario’s provincial government is so far down in the polls, and the provincial Liberals so tarnished with that electricity file, that even a minority government may be out of their reach come the 2018 election. So unless the Premier has something up her sleeves to excite the voters, or the provincial PC leader falls on his face again, she might as well pass the torch before the voters do her the favour.
Britain sure looks like it is going to negotiate a hard Brexit which has the same prognosticators, who said it would never happen, pronouncing the death of the great society there. But the EU may not fare any better unless it can get beyond second-guessing its very own existence, and get on with building the Union part of EU, including immigration, fiscal policy and defence. And a little help from Mr. Trump, when it comes to talking NATO, will go a long way towards that end.
Expect to see more tension and some dust-ups between China and the US, especially over the future status of Taiwan. Expect to see Iran tear-up its nuclear deal as the Trump administration renews sanctions, and this time to unabashedly build its bomb. That may mark the beginning of the end for anyone’s hopes for nuclear non-proliferation as Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea and even former nuclear power Ukraine jump back into the game.
That isn’t a very promising outlook, unless you like war, but that is how I see it. I also see me continuing with this column and the Burlington Gazette becoming the best read news source in Burlington next year, even if you can’t wrap your fish and chips in it.
And finally I will predict a heck of a year-long celebration, following on our Prime Minister’s wish for a wonderful birthday for this nation of ours, now come of age at 150.
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington in 1995. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Polls and their Impacts – Worst Political Predictions – Message in Michigan – Trudeau’s Reputation –
Pipelines – Trudeau’s New Year Resolution – Physic Predictions – O’Leary – More O’Leary –
 By Pepper Parr
December 21st, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Momentous days get remembered.
Sometimes they are great memories – VE day – we had won the war – the boys were coming home.
Sometimes they are dark and painful – December 6th, 1989 in Montreal where a lone gunman killed 14 woman at the École Polytechnique and then turned his rifle on himself.
Those are dates that do not get forgotten. One has to fish around a little to come up with memorable dates in this city.
December 18th, 2014 reverberates in the memory of this reporter. It was the night we got to see just how dysfunctional the freshly re-elected city council was going to be. Metaphorically speaking, there was blood all over the city council floor.
The evening started out well enough. Unbeknownst to him, John Taylor was to be given an award for his more than 20 years of public service.
 John Taylor. He is what he is – and he has served on city council for well over twenty years. Taylor is not known for his sartorial style. His wife was in the room with her camera to capture this significant moment. There were smiles all-round the horseshoe.
The award given, the members of council settled into their seats. One of the early items on the agenda was determining which board’s council members would sit on – the library Board, the hospital board, the Downtown Business Association and the Economic Development Corporation were some of the seats that were to be filled. Council members each had their favourites: Meed Ward just loved serving on the Hospital Board – she felt their governance model was something the city could emulate.
At the beginning of each term of a new Council the members of Council decide who will represent the city on the various local boards and committees. The established process includes the completion of a form indicating individual council members’ interests in specific boards and committees. Based on each member’s input, the Mayor presents recommendations to the Community and Corporate Services Committee appointing Council members to local boards and committees.
 Mayor Goldring went int the meeting with a list of recommendations and thought he had his council members on side. Little did he know. The Mayor talked to each of the members of Council and asked them where they wanted to serve – they each told the Mayor what they would like and that was the list the Mayor was prepared to put forward.
That’s when the really nasty tone of the city council we have had since the 2014 election appeared.
Three of his Council members did not like what they saw in the report and actually conspired to ensure that Meed Ward was removed from every possible committee.
 Councillor Sharman tends to advise Councillor Lancaster frequently. Councillors Craven and Sharman appeared to lead what Councillor Taylor called “the gang of four”; Councillor Lancaster went along for the ride; and Councillor Dennison got confused and cast a vote that cost his long-time colleague John Taylor a position he had wanted.
There was a hint at the Community Services Committee earlier in the week that something hard was coming when the chair for the next year was selected. This is the committee that handles the budget and the work load was seen as a little taxing for Taylor. Meed Ward was elected as vice-chair and Taylor made chair. Meed Ward had expected to serve as chair.
That Thursday in December of 2014 was not the Mayor’s best day – his council trashed some of his key recommendations and there was nothing he could do to stop them.
There were three amendments to the report that took everything away from Meed Ward. A surprise and somewhat intemperate move by Councillor Taylor had him withdrawing as the representative for city council on the Conservation Halton board which allowed Meed Ward to then take that appointment. Councillor Taylor then withdrew from the Art Gallery Board as well.
As the Councillor for Ward 2, the downtown part of the city she was the obvious choice for the Downtown Business Association. Council put Lancaster on the BDBA instead
Craven remained on the Police Services Board
Sharman was on the Seniors Advisory Board and appeared to like serving there. He wanted the hospital board which Meed Ward held. Council put Sharman on the hospital board and moved Meed Ward into the Seniors Advisory board.
Taylor served on the Conservation Halton Board and felt it was time to increase the city’s representation and wanted Meed Ward to serve there with him
Councillor Craven fought very hard against that – he argued that the city didn’t need two representatives even though all the other city’s had two council members on the Conservation Halton Board.
 John Taylor, the dean of city council, got badly beaten up by two of his fellow council members in December of 2014. Council has been dysfunctional ever since. Taylor took a very principled stand and chose to step aside and let Meed Ward take that task.
Councillor Taylor later described his fellow council member as a “gang of four” who used a rude, crude plan to strip ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward of all the committee and Board responsibilities she liked and was pretty good at.
In his report to Council Mayor Goldring said: “I am confident that the unique interests and talents of members of council are reflected in the recommended slate of council representatives to Boards and Committees. These representatives will ensure effective communication between the local boards and committees and council over the next four years.
Would that it were so. It ain’t.
What does it all boil down to?
What became clear was that the city now had a council with some significant splits. Councillors Craven and Sharman take a hard conservative approach to almost everything. Lancaster tends to go along with them.
Taylor and Meed Ward tend to be open and liberal.
The Mayor is described as a “green” but spent the night that the last federal election results came in with Conservative candidate Mike Wallace watching his losing numbers come in.
Councillor Dennison tends to be very pro-business but tries to be open and stand up for the little guy but won’t give the Brant Museum or the Performing Arts Centre a dime.
Mayor Goldring had said he was happy with the Council he had prior to the 2014 election – and they were all re-elected. His Worship is clearly not fully aware as to just how dysfunctional his Council is – there is now a very clear divide between the Mayor, Councillors Taylor and Meed Ward and what Councillor Taylor called the “gang of four”; made up of Councillors Craven, Sharman, Dennison and Lancaster. They meant to cut Meed Ward down a peg or two and on the surface at the time it sure looked like they succeeded.
The seniors were expected to just love Meed Ward; they didn’t take to Councillor Sharman all that well. It will be interesting to see how Sharman fits into the hospital board – some ego clashes were expected over there.
Councillor Marianne Meed Ward got stripped of all the board seats she had held – Councillor Taylor’s principled stand did get her on the Conservation Halton Board Getting Meed Ward onto Conservation was a surprise move on the part of Councillor Taylor. She had her work cut out for her.
Booting Meed Ward off the Downtown BIA put a dent in her ego – but it won’t make any difference to what happens at that Board: Meed Ward can and did participate fully.
Before 2015 was out Lancaster had closed her Spa and decided to leave the Downtown Business Association board.
Taylor’s intemperate decision to withdraw from the Art Gallery is unfortunate but he got himself back in.
There weren’t any winners that Thursday evening in 2014. What there is however is a very clear divide on city council that is not in the best interests of the city.
Two years later – and how has I worked out? We hear very little from Sharman on what the hospital is doing.
Lancaster is no longer on the Downtown Business Association board.
Taylor got himself back on to the Art Gallery Board.
Meed Ward appears to have failed the senior’s with the rather pathetic support she provided when the city parks and recreation department moved in and took over almost everything. The senior’s non-profit corporation didn’t even have a room they could meet in.
 This Council has never functioned all that well as a team. Is it a leadership problem? Have two council members been there too long? Are some council members divisive by nature? Are the seven people elected to lead the city two years ago going to be able to use the holiday season to reflect and find a way to work as a team to grow the city in the direction the citizens want it to grow?
Will city manager James Ridge manage to create a team out of this bunch
Don’t bet everything on it.
Former city manager Jeff Fielding came to the conclusion that they were hopeless and when he got an opportunity to head west and run things as city manager in Calgary he couldn’t leave fast enough.
By James Burchill
December 16, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
As odd as it sounds, some people would rather die than walk into a room of strangers and talk to them! It makes no logical sense to me, but deep in the shadow of my childhood fears, I can still hear my mother’s warning, “Don’t talk to strangers!”
Decades later that modern “monster under the bed” still grabs our feet making us recoil horrified at the prospect of speaking to a room full of strangers. Instead we slip quietly into the room. Avoiding eye-contact, we slink toward the back of the room, anywhere but out in the open where the people are!
We fiddle with our phones, we pretend we’re busy. We distract ourselves, all the while feeling frustrated at our weakness. Our lack of courage. Our inaction. If we’re not careful that feeling will chase us from the room, once again confirming our belief “networking isn’t for us.” It’s a vicious cycle and something to avoid.
Firstly you need to give your head a shake. People don’t bite – unless you’re at a “special party” and the bartender is wearing rubber … in which case you’ve lost me and I suggest you move along – there’s nothing to see here.
 When the finish with their texting – they might manage to network. But if you’re at a B2B networking event where people are clothed in business attire, chatting in small groups to other people of similar dress, then you’re definitely in the right place and there are some things you need to remember.
(1) People go to networking events to talk to other people. They want to connect. They want to know each other. They want to discover commonalities – that’s how it works.
(2) Everyone gets nervous. It’s normal, it means you give a damn – you care. You want to do good, to make a positive impression. You don’t want to waste your time or theirs. That’s good. Just don’t let the “nerves” stop you. Slowly take a deep breath, hold it for a few seconds and then slowly exhale. Smile as you do it. Now put one foot in front of the other and walk into the room.
(3) Its’ NOT about selling. People get too hung up on the idea you’re supposed to be some super salesman. That’s all wrong, it’s about connecting not convincing. It’s about finding common ground, not working the room. When you meet people you simply smile, extend your hand and say, “Hello, my name is James, what do you do?” Of course I recommend you use your own name …
(4) You’re not interrupting. When you walk up to a small group of people pay attention to their body language and facial expressions. If the group seems ‘open,’ stand at the edge and listen. Smile. Wait for it … Someone will invite you in. Then you do the whole ‘stick out your hand, smile and say “Hello, my name is …”‘ and take if from there. If the group is closed or it’s only two people with their feet pointing toward each other then smile and move on. Basically it’s all about manners – don’t intrude and don’t be rude. Simple.
(5) Make it about them. If you forget everything else, remember this: MAKE IT ABOUT THEM. Because soon enough they’ll make it about you if you ask good questions. Be curious. Find out what they do. Listen. Pay a genuine compliment when you can. Avoid the touchy topics like looks, clothing, sex, politics and religion. Try to compliment their work. For instance, I love it when people figure out how much time I spend writing and say something nice about how I make it look easy.
 It’s about making the connections – there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. Remember, at the end of the day networking isn’t about working the room, it’s about turning a roomful of strangers into friends … one person at a time. And be patient, growing strong relationships takes time so relax, take a deep breath and smile.
Oh, and one parting thought for you … I’m not an extrovert, I’m introverted. Introverts aren’t incapable of networking – we just do it differently. It’s not all about the wow, it’s about the now – being present and truly connecting with people. Many extroverts draw their energy and enthusiasm from the room (which is often why it’s not as hard for them to network.) Most introverts draw their energy from within – which is why it’s often so draining afterwards but equally rewarding.
 Some of the best small business networking done in Burlington is at the SFN – Social Fusion Networking that Gazette columnist James Burchill sponsors. He packs a pretty good crowd in the Performing Arts Centre I guess what I want you take away is that you’ve probably been thinking about networking in the wrong way. Forget the sales pitches. Make friends. Take is easy. Take a breath. Smile. Whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert doesn’t matter … I’m a Gemini – so what right? Precisely. Have some fun and for the umpteenth time … SMILE, they won’t bite … unless the bartender is wearing rubber in which case you’re own your own bucko!
James Burchill is the founder of Social Fusion Network – an organization that helps local business connect and network. He also writes about digital marketing, entrepreneurship and technology and when he’s not consulting, he teaches people to start their own ‘side hustle.’
 By Pepper Parr
December 16, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The Gazette columnists, Ray Rivers and James Burchill – usually write every week.
Ray Rivers covers the political scene – where his trenchant observations and at times acerbic comment has resulted in a significant following of hos Top of mind column.
 Ray Rivers write a regular column for the Gazette, raises chickens and plays the guitar whenever a group will let him in. Rivers has chosen a rural lifestyle – raised sheep at one time – has a dozen chickens and a barn with stalls that his grandchildren would like him to house ponies in.
Rural means getting around differently in winter weather and we are definitely experiencing winter weather which means the Rivers column won’t make it into his regular Friday spot.
 Burchill – It’s all about networking. James Burchill, who writes Money, Management and Mojo will fill that spot today.
Both are going to take a couple of weeks of for the holidays – look for them again in January. Burchill apparently has a couple of new ideas up his sleeve.
Rivers, just might pop in with a column when he sees something that he just has to comment on comes along.
 By Pepper Parr
December 13th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
That data; captured at a public meeting with more than 350 people in the room.
You are not going to be allowed to see it – with the exception that the Gazette captured most of the data and has made it public.
 Scott Podrebarac, Chair of the PARC. Scott Podrebarac, Chair of the PARC and a Superintendent with the Halton District Public School Board has said that he has “not yet reviewed the raw response data from IPSOS and that he “will not release the information until it is presented as a formal report to the PARC members in advance of the first working meeting on January 26th.”
Ipsos is the company the Board of Education hired to “facilitate” the meetings. They are doing a lot more than facilitating – they are gathering the data, they are probably heavily involved in the phrasing of the questions, and they will in all probability do the analysis of the answers they got to the questions they wrote and present that analysis to the PARC which is expected to meet January 26th.
There is something fundamentally wrong with the approach the Chair of the PARC has taken.
In the meantime, the parents who are at risk of losing their high school, are left high and dry as the saying goes – unable to do their own analysis of the answers that were given at the December 8th meeting
It is evident now that the data is heavily skewed to what the Central high school students think because they were by far the largest group in the room.
Podrebarac adds that “I do not want our PARC members getting information from the media before they receive it.”
 These people answered 25 questions at a public meeting. The answers they gave were flashed up on a large screen – made public. But the Board of Education does not want to release this raw data until it gets presented to a committee. The parents need that data to prepare their arguments that will go to the same committee. The Gazette wonders which part of “public” Podrebarac is having a problem with?
In his response to our asking for the raw data to ensure that what we have published is correct Podrebarac said: “we will prepare and present this to them and post the full report as soon as it has been prepared. This is the process that was shared and agreed to with the PARC members.”
Podrebarac said he is “happy to make myself available throughout the process, so please do not hesitate to call me on my cell or in the office. He means well.
The school board has created the PARC as the body that will be the “official” body that is used to communicate with the public – PARC.
The Board has contracted with Ipsos to handle the “facilitation” of the meetings. The lead person from Ipsos, Kirk Perris, holds a doctorate as well as the title Director of Consultations, Canada
On can deduce that Perris will be doing the analysis of the data and presenting that analysis to the PARC at the end of January.
 Central high school parents are going to have to be more than strong – they are going to have to fight to keep their school open with one hand tied behind their back. Meanwhile the parents who stand a better than even chance of losing their high school have to sit and stew for more than a month.
The is (a) unfair, (b) not in the interests of the public
There isn’t a reason in the world for withholding the raw data that was gathered at a public meeting.
Several hundred parents who do not want to see their neighbourhood high school closed and who are out fundraising and preparing their arguments for the PARC and for the trustees, now have to wait until close to the end of January before they can review the data and come to their own conclusions as to what was the data really says. The kind of information gathered has to be analyzed and filtered – and this takes time.
The parents do have representation on the PARC – they appointed one of the two people on the PARC to represent them. The school board has created email addresses for the members of the PARC. A single email address is used to reach both people representing our school.
The addresses are shown below. Urge the members of the PARC to direct the chair of the committee to release the raw data now.
 Email addresses for the members of the PARC representing the high schools in the city. Director of Education Stuart Miller has said that the recommendation staff made to close Pearson and Central high schools was the starting point of a lengthy process.
 Director of Education Stuart Miller gets out to dozens of events where students are involved. The same cannot be aid for several of his predecessors. He said that parents may well come up with ideas that will result in a solution that keeps everyone happy. And the Gazette believes Miller is sincere – what he does not appear to appreciate is that the parents who stand to lose a core part of their community are left to work with data that is incomplete and may have errors with at least one hand tied behind their back.
Miller was on-hand to greet people before the December 8th meeting started but said that he had been advised not to stay. Miller needs to get better advisers.
Informed people can make informed decisions. In a world of almost instant communication data is king. Let the public have what their taxes paid for.
Director Miller has a number of options. He can release the raw data to the public and the members of the PARC and then send Chair Podrebarac back to the civics class he seems to have missed.
The data the Gazette did manage to capture and report on
By Pepper Parr
December 12, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Tom Muir has been delegating to city council for more than 25 years.
He is a solid thorn in the side of his council member who doesn’t send Muir a Christmas card, Muir doesn’t lose any sleep over this.
 Will this high school close – and if it does what will it do to the life of the downtown core. He has been watching the Board of Education plan to possibly close two Burlington high schools and he has some advice for the parents. The following is an unedited comment Tom Muir made earlier today.
From my experience, parents just have to become completely self-aware, so they find out for themselves what is really going on.
Don’t expect the Board to tell you what you want to know. This is really politics, and the key in politics is to control the narrative.
That’s what the Board is doing very well. They have the whole process structured and orchestrated.
They act interested, but they are defending the closures recommendation that they made right off the bat. That is their real interest. Don’t be fooled.
Of course you are being manipulated. Your key questions are being avoided, and right in front of your face. So what does this tell you?
They are trying to get you to fill in the blanks of some of their key questions. Your were “facilitated” – another political tool.
They are doing their own brand of efficiency, and I don’t think parents are being told the half of it. Parents are doing heart. Get that through your head.
If parents don’t let their outrage loose, and in mass numbers demand answers to their key questions, on a schedule parents set, to the Board, and the Trustees, and your Councillor and Mayor, and right now, immediately, then the trip down the garden path will continue.
Parents have to self-organize and go to war for what they want. Sheep are for slaughter. They are the big bad wolf.
If parents don’t do this, then give up, because they will just put you down slowly, on their schedule, with their information driving the bus your kids are on.
Don’t kid yourself, and don’t go quietly.
Take the advice of a citizen who has been down this path more often than he cares to admit. He recently chastised council for their attempt to limit the length of time a citizen could delegate at a Standing Committee.
Tom Muir explaining to city council what their job is:
Tom Muir made, as he inevitably does, points worth remembering.
 Citizen Tom Muir “I would hope that Council votes in favor of the 10 minutes unanimously, as a show of good faith. I will say that a vote to reduce to 5 minutes is something I see as an insult to citizens and their possible contribution to what we do as a city – our city.”
“Further, if Councillors still want to vote down the 10 minutes, I say this. If you are so tired of and frustrated by, listening to the views of the people that elected you, then maybe you have been doing this job too long and should quit. I mean that, and will not forget how this vote goes tonight. “
“This Council is not your Council; it is the people’s Council.
“And these Council Chambers are not your Chambers, but are equally, the people’s Chambers. All the Councillors and Councils hold these offices and chambers in trust.
“So to vote to reduce the people’s time to speak in these chambers is to fail in that trust, in my opinion.
I ask therefore; herein fail not.”
The vote went 6-1 with Councillor Craven voting against ten minutes for Standing Committee delegations.
By Pepper Parr
December 11th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
There was a line in the Saturday Globe & Mail editorial that might resonate with the several hundred people who took part in the first public meeting of the Program Accommodation Review Committee (PARC) at the Gary Alan School on New Street Thursday evening.
The editorial was about the seriously flawed on-line survey being conducted to learn what Canadians have to say about how we elect our leaders.
Much of the editorial was “tongue in cheek” but the following paragraph comes pretty close to reflecting what many people felt when they left the school Thursday evening.
“As you answer the questions, remember that there are no wrong answers, because we don’t care what you say. This is a different way of consulting Canadians – in the sense that we’re not actually consulting anyone. We are just collecting data on our imposed preferences and sorting it by your demographic profile for unclear purposes. Thank you for participating.”
For those at the Thursday evening meeting we expect many to cringe after reading the paragraph.
PARC Chair Scott Podabarac – a Superintendent with the Halton District school Board Data was collected – the Gazette provided the questions asked and an early cut of the audience responses. The data we provided has to be verified – it wasn’t possible to get it all down – the data on the screens was moving pretty quickly and one of the women sitting in the row behind me seemed to need to chatter incessantly.
All the data needs to be analyzed by the parents who really care about how many schools will be kept open and if schools are closed – which will it be?
The Board of Education may not be able to do better than this – but this is in the hands of the citizens. They are the steel in the spine of the PARC and they can ensure that the report written reflects their views. They can hold Chair of the PARC, Superintendent Scott Podabarc’s feet to the flames – he is there to serve them.
The PARC could also choose to summon Domenico Renzella, Manager of Planning, Halton District School Board and put questions to him and demand all the data they need.
 Director of Education Stuart Miller and Manager of Planning Domenico Renzella during an on-line Q&A Several parents have come up with boundary change scenarios that they think will solve at least some of the empty seat problems.
PARC policy is that:
The PARC is an Advisory body; it acts as the official conduit for information shared between Trustees and school communities. It provides feedback on options considered in Director’s Preliminary Report. It can seek clarification on Director’s Preliminary Report and provide new accommodation options and supporting rationale
The Board of Trustees is responsible for deciding the most appropriate pupil accommodation arrangements for the delivery of its elementary and secondary programs. Decisions that are made by the Board of Trustees are in the context of carrying out its primary responsibilities of fostering student achievement and well-being, and ensuring effective stewardship of school board resources. The Board of Trustees may consider undertaking pupil accommodation reviews that may lead to school consolidations and closures in order to address declining and shifting student enrolment.
The final decision regarding the future of a school or a group of schools rests solely with the Board of Trustees.
There are a couple of ways to interpret that statement. There is an opportunity for the members of the PARC to be aggressively proactive and take the lead on this and not sit there like stooges while the board runs circles around them.
The PARC might even consider having some original research done and require the board to fund it. There is nothing in the rules that says the PARC cannot call witnesses and ask questions. For any of this to happen to parents have to stand up on their hind legs and demand what is rightfully theirs.
They also need to keep their trustees fully briefed on what is happening and lobby like crazy.
The trustees were elected to make decisions on or your behalf and we would like to believe that those decisions are being made in your best interests as well.
It might get a little messy – but it can’t get any worse than it is right now.
The senior staff at the board are intelligent people and they have the capacity to adapt to changing situations – the parents can determine that this is a changing situation and expect their board to adapt. The phrase innovation and imagination was tossed around several times – bring that to ground and be imaginative and innovative to solve this perplexing problem.
 Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring The disconcerting part in this situation is the way the city has decided to steer clear of what they feel is a little too political for them. The parents at Central understood fully the need for a political element and placed Marianne Meed Ward, their ward Councillor on the PARC – she does have a son who attends the school – so she is legit.
Mayor Goldring chose not to take part and instead sent James Ridge, his city manager, who is new to Burlington and probably hasn’t been anywhere near one of the high schools. He does not have the legitimacy Meed Ward has on this file. He was not at the first public meeting – it was his birthday. Happy Birthday James.
The data
The Mayor’s choice
By Ray Rivers
December 9th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
When did you stop kicking your dog? That question isn’t on mydemocracy.ca the federal government’s survey on electoral reform. But at more than one point I was sure it was coming, as I struggled with the survey.
This online survey the federal government is asking Canadians to complete has drawn the ire from the opposition benches. Elizabeth May compared it to a dating website and was waiting for the question, ‘do you like pina coladas and taking walks in the rain’.
 It is a survey at least worth looking at. There is some speculation that the result is fixed, skewed to give the government the results it wanted.
I’ve worked a fair bit with surveys, but it was only after I’d completed this one that I appreciated the skill that has gone into developing it. There is a difference between a poll and a value-based survey – and this is the latter. The result the surveyors inferred from my responses was illuminating – everyone should try the survey.
Here is where you go to find the survey. www.mydemocracy.ca
Mr. Trudeau has a problem of his own making. His minister of democratic institutions, Maryam Monsef, created a special parliamentary committee giving the members a mandate to recommend an alternative to our current first-past-the-post (FPP) election system. That was one of the key commitments in Mr. Trudeau’s winning election campaign.
 Maryam Monsef the federal Minister responsible for electoral reform at a town hall meeting. (Photograph by Cole Burston) Of course, the parties can’t possibly agree on any one system. The minority parties (NDP, Greens and Bloc) will only ever be satisfied with mixed member proportional representation, the formula that would maximize their presence in the House, While the only option which will allow the united Conservative party to form majority government again is the existing FPP.
The Liberals could live with a mixed-member proportional system, and they have also won consistently with our existing FPP system, including just last year. Still they really would like a preferential or ranked ballot, since they are the party of first or second choice for most Canadians. Elected MPs would better represent the preferences of the majority of Canadians than FPP, and the system would be easier to understand and implement than complex proportional representation.
So, given the diversity of opinion on this matter, perhaps the government expected the committee to fail. That would then open the door for it to take the initiative and move forward unilaterally. Except the minister had given majority membership on the committee to the opposition parties, thus letting the fox run the hen house. So the Conservatives took a strategic perspective and played a brilliant hand.
They bluffed. The Tories anted up to the NDP and Greens bid for a proportional system. But then they raised the bid – requiring a mandatory referendum before any change can be made. Having made sure it was all-in, they then put their cards on the table.
The committee had clearly gone beyond their mandate in recommending a referendum. So a furious minister called them on it – giving them a tongue lashing in the House. But she was bidding with a weak hand and ended up apologizing for accusing them of cheating.
 And just who is holding what in the manipulating of the way we get to elect our federal leadership. This is the adult game of poker, not go-fish. Yet, as if in a game of bridge, the Minister had been finessed. Since nobody but the Liberals are putting their money on a preferential, or ranked ballot come next election, she lost her hand. In fact she lost it to the Conservatives because the minority opposition parties (NDP, Greens, Bloc) were accepting fools’ gold instead of cold hard cash. The Tories are banking on the referendum failing. And that would leave our system exactly where it is – FPP.
But even with a successful referendum there would not be enough time to change the system before the next election in 2019. And Conservatives are gambling that the shine will have come off Mr. Trudeau by then. And perhaps with new leadership in the opposition parties they will put a dent in the powerful lead the Liberals have in popular support. That might just result in another minority government in 2019, given we’d be playing under existing house rules – FPP.
 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thinking through his next move. And were the Tories to form a government again, that will be the last we ever hear of electoral reform. Just look at what they did with other Liberal policies, such as the long gun registry or public funding for political parties.
But the game is not yet over, and now it’s Mr. Trudeau’s turn at the deal.
Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington in 1995. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Monsef Apologizes – Special Committee – Referendum –
mydemocracy.ca – Critics of the Survey –
FPP Commitment – Electoral Reform Consultations –
By James Burchill
December 8th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
The famous P.T Barnum once said, “Without promotion, something terrible happens, NOTHING!” And marketing (or promotion) is all about combating that dreaded ‘nothingness’. The question is… are you doing it right?
Gone are the days where you could open up shop, hang out a sign, and people would beat a path to your door. It just doesn’t work like that anymore (if it ever did). No, these days you’ve got to find a way to ‘get the word’ out, and that’s all a part of marketing.
Advertising is often the most common way this is achieved – after all, many people think that advertising is marketing, and it’s not – it’s just one part of it.
Mistake #1 – Confusing Advertising With Marketing
Marketing is all about marshaling your available resources to assist in the sales process. After all, nothing
 This is confusing! happens until someone makes a sale. Marketing is about influencing the buying decision at all points of influence and contact. It covers the way the phone is answered to the way your washrooms look and smell. If you’re not thinking about marketing in this fashion you’re leaving the door wide open for your competitors to slip in and steal your customers away.
Mistake #2 – Running Institutional or Brand Building Adverts
You’ve seen the ads – “XYZ Automotive Service & Repair. The Best Service In Town!” These adverts are a sheer waste of money because they don’t direct the reader, viewer or listener toward any intelligent action or buying decision.
Moreover they immediately cause the prospect to say things like “yeah, sure!”, or “so what!”
Advertising serves one purpose and one purpose only – to sell stuff. Anything else is either vanity, folly or both. Ads are like ‘silent’ sales people – evaluate adverts with the same eye you’d use when evaluating a sales person and you’ll see the difference.
Direct response style advertising on the other hand, makes a complete case for the company, product or service. It overcomes sales objections. It answers all major questions. And it promises results, backing up the promise with a risk-free warranty or money-back guarantee. Direct response style advertising works.
 That one stands out doesn’t it? Mistake #3 – Not Stressing Uniqueness
Most successful businesses or professional services are built around a USP, or unique selling proposition. It might be reliable post-purchase service, super-fast delivery, convenient hours or a combination of things. Think about what it is that sets your business apart from the rest and then make your USP the engine that drives all your marketing and advertising efforts.
The next time you see your competitor’s adverts; see if you can identify their USP. Take note: if you can’t identify your own USP, you can be certain your customers can’t either!
Mistake #4 – Targeting The Wrong Prospects
Always send your sales messages to the people who are your primary prospects – and ignore the rest. You can’t be all things to all people and attempting this makes you nothing to everyone.
If you wish to reach people over 45, for example, your ad’s headline should say something like “If you’re 45 or over…” And make certain all your headlines and ads are specific and targeted to your ideal prospect – avoid abstractions.
 Did you test? Do you know what your customer is thinking and what they want? Mistake #5 – Failing To Test
Finally, if you don’t test prices, headlines, offers, advertising copy, and all your verbal and non-verbal sales messages, you’ll never know what the market wants, or what it will pay. You’re just guessing – which can be financially disastrous.
Marketing is a process, not an outcome. Eliminate these five marketing mistakes from your business and you’ll see positive results – guaranteed!
James Burchill is the founder of Social Fusion Network – an organization that helps local business connect and network. He also writes about digital marketing, entrepreneurship and technology and when he’s not consulting, he teaches people to start their own ‘side hustle.’
By Ray Rivers
December 2, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
One day electrically powered vehicles will grace our streets and roadways and the gas pump will be an historical artifact. And as go the gas pumps so too go the gas taxes, which together with license and other road fees currently more than pay for the road infrastructure in the GTA and Hamilton.
EVs (electric vehicles) are still in their infancy in Canada but the automakers have got the memo, thanks to Tesla. And it’s not too early to consider how we should be paying for roads after the gas tax money is gone. As a result, some jurisdictions in the USA have resorted to penalizing EV and hybrid car owners with surcharges on their vehicles – in effect a tax on efficient transportation and thus a tax on the environment.
 Will electric vehicles result in less gasoline sales and less in the way of taxes on that gasoline? Is that the real reason behind tolls on highways? While Ontario subsidizes the purchase of EV’s by up to $14,000, some US states are planning to charge an annual registration fee of up to $200 on these quiet, smokeless vehicles. It’s about fairness they say. Over the years public policy has swung from financing roads through property and income taxes towards user pay. And relying as much as we do on gas taxes, how can it be fair for the F-150 crowd to have to pay for the roads while Tesla owners ride for free.
Already, Oregon is experimenting with a per mile road tax in lieu of the gas tax. An electronic device like your hydro meter would measure your driving and send you a bill. Those west coast states have typically been ahead of the curve in North America – and not co-incidentally they’ve also legalized marijuana there. But the inherent complexities of this proposal make it sound like Cheech and Chong on a bad trip.
So Toronto mayor John Tory is timely in proposing a $2 toll for the Gardiner and Don Valley highways running through the city, that may bring in up to $300 million a year. At that rate it would take twelve years to pay for rehabilitating the Gardiner, but it is a start. And If approved it would still take at least a couple of years before they would have the electronic toll booths in place to start charging.
$2 may be a low ball figure for a city that charges $2 just for an hour of parking on the street, something which causes far more damage to one’s wallet than to the street. And since it can take an hour to crawl along the DVP from one end to the other, sadly the toll would be just like a parking charge.
 John Tory arguing then that tolls were nothing but highway robbery. John Tory has had a change of heart on this matter since he ran for mayor in 2003 – arguing then that tolls were nothing but highway robbery. Of course he has blundered a few times before. There was that negative billing thing when he was with Rogers. Wasn’t he responsible for those disgusting Kim Campbell’s personal attack ads on Mr. Chretien?, And who doesn’t remember the promise to fully fund all private schools.
But he’s got this one figured out now. Though, had he supported David Miller’s road tolls back then, the Gardiner might already have been re-built. Tory used to argue that imposing tolls was unwise since that would drive cars off the Gardiner. He was probably right. But isn’t driving some cars off our congested highways exactly what we really need to do? Just ask one of those weary commuters stuck in perpetual daily grid-lock.
It’s a tragedy of the common highway. All those drivers trying to get their car on the road spoil it for all those other drivers. The rational economic solution is rationing through the price system. In fact this concept of rationing to avoid congestion is one of the pillars of the highway 407 pricing policy. Or at least, that is the rationale they use to allow them to charge the highest rates – the expensive highway – in North America.
 Isn’t driving some cars off our congested highways exactly what we really need to do? There is no perfect solution. Road tolls involve equity issues related to ability to pay, which can be brutal if you need that highway to get to work – so you can eventually pay the tolls. But flat fees and gas taxes inherently involve somebody subsidizing somebody else’s share of the cost of road building and maintenance. And that’s not fair either.
Ray Z Rivers is a songwriter, playwright, author and columnist. Tweet @rayzrivers He will be performing on Sunday, December 18 at The Pearl Company Arts Centre, 16 Steven St., in Hamilton. The hour-long show of selected Christmas music starts at 2 p.m. Net proceeds will be donated to Mission Services in Hamilton.
Tickets are available on-line (thepearlcompany.ca) or at the door. Admission is $20, $15 for students, seniors and the under-waged. Reserve your seat today, call 905-524-0606.
Background links:
Tory Tolls – Tory No Tolls – Tory Blunders – Road Tolls Everywhere –
407 Policy – Who Pays for Roads – Oregon Experiment – Tragedy of the Commons –
By James Burchill
December 1, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Make a fortune on-line.
I know, you figure “What a load of BS…Like he has the secret…” but you still had to look didn’t you – just in case I do have the secret. After all, how painful would it be to think that the answer to all your problems was offered to you at no cost and you were too stubborn, too closed minded to even give it a chance?
What’s the harm in looking? It’s not like I want anything for the information ☺
So let’s begin before you change your mind. Here goes…
Small But Mighty
In any statistical population, there is always a percentage that will accept your offer. In other words, if you keep asking you’ll get a “yes.”
 Kids do it all the time. As adults, we ‘learn’ to stop asking very quickly in our lives because we don’t like rejection. It hurts.
But surely how you ask has something to do with it? Yes and no.
The Sad Young Man
I once heard a tale of a sad young man who had limited social skills. His idea of getting a girl involved hanging out in bars where he’d approach a young lady and simply ask her if she wanted sex!
Can you imagine the rejection rate…and the number of times he got slapped or had a drink thrown in his face? Now that’s rejection. But there’s an upside to this story…this guy always got a girl…in the end. He kept asking.
And the moral of that tale? Asking is the key, and we know that asking the right way is even better, but we know that trying different approaches makes us vulnerable to rejection. It’s quite the conundrum!
 That would be a No – but he asked. Hold that thought for a moment while we get back to the secret.
So if we simply ask enough times we will eventually get a yes, and if we improve how we asking we’ll get more yeses. Ok, now we’re getting somewhere.
Walking into Traffic
On the Internet, a large population is simply called TRAFFIC. And if you have enough traffic you can afford to ask badly and still be successful. Of course, if you ask in more effective ways you’ll do even better – but we’ve got to start somewhere.
So the secret to making money on the Internet is simply getting enough traffic and asking people if they’re interested. So if you can get enough people marching past your website (where your offer is made automatically and without personal rejection, I might add) you will eventually make sales.
Nuts and the Blind Squirrel
Granted if your offer is bad and your website is worse, you’ll make very few sales – but you will make some. As the old saying goes, “Even a blind squirrel eventually finds a nut!”
This ‘secret’ holds true in the real world as well because the secret to making money in a retail store is still all about having a steady stream of prospects (traffic) walking around your store.
 Even a blind squirrel eventually finds a nut. Now making your traffic (prospects) stay long enough to see your offers, and improving the conversion rates so you sell more stuff, well that’s the subject of another article.
An Example
And rather than leave you hanging without a practical way to implement the “more traffic” solution – here’s a clue. It’s free, it’s easy and it’s been under your nose from the very beginning: provide meaningful, appropriate content and the search engines will love you for it.
In other words, support the Internet at the fundamental level – it was built to share information… so write and share!
James Burchill is the founder of Social Fusion Network – an organization that helps local business connect and network. He also writes about digital marketing, entrepreneurship and technology and when he’s not consulting, he teaches people to start their own ‘side hustle.’
 By Jim Young
November 30th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It is always easy to lift the pen or get on the keyboard to complain about and criticize council members. I’m often thoughtful of how thick their skins must become or how difficult it must be not to internalize or personalize the criticism. So it is with some pleasure that I write to congratulate them for a thoughtful and well considered reversal on Monday night.
City Staff and a Council Subcommittee had voted 3 to 3 (with one member absent) to change a bylaw and limit delegations to council to 5 minutes from the existing 10.
On Monday council members, listened, questioned and debated several citizen delegations who came to ask that council reverse that part of the bylaw change.
At the end of the debate, Councilors Sharman and Taylor courageously and very graciously reversed their positions on the issue and Councilor Lancaster (who had missed the original vote but sat on the recommending subcommittee) sided with the delegates to support an amendment by councilors Meed-Ward and Dennison to revert to the 10 minute allotment. Mayor Goldring had always supported maintaining the 10 minute allotment.
The amendment carried 6 votes to 1 proving two things:
Contrary to popular opinion, some councilors do listen and act accordingly.
The delegation system proved its worth and earned the support of the majority of council by virtue of the respectful and informed delegates who argued the case intelligently and succinctly.
A victory for common sense, civic engagement and a democratic principle; Well done City Council and thank you to the delegates who gave their time and voice in support of Burlington citizens.
 By Pepper Parr
November 28th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
City council and the few that attend city council meetings along with the even fewer who watch what council does on the Cogeco live broadcast are in for a treat this evening.
Hearing a true democrat (note the small D) explain the rudiments of what it means to live in a democracy.
Jim Young will explain to members of city council (hopefully the staff will have their ears open as well) when he explains that:
Sometimes democracy frustrates us. Sometimes it completely fails us. Democracy is messy and unpredictable. But its inherent frustrations are still preferable to its failure.
Yes, it grinds ever so slowly through elections; committees; consultations, delegations, votes, amendments then back through the whole messy, frustrating process again.
Jim Young delegating. And yes, those slow, tangled procedures can tempt us to short circuit the process in the name of speed in the name of efficiency to get the good works we have in mind into action.
The democratic processes of our city demand that qualified, talented professionals like the city staffs and managers, we are fortunate to have in Burlington, apply themselves to a certain vision of the city.
That they nurse that vision through the often tortuous process to council for approval and implementation, only to have someone like me, a citizens delegate, put a flea in council’s ear, a spoke in staff’s well-oiled wheel and force a review all of their efforts and the inevitable delay that brings.
Democracy is indeed frustrating and the temptation to limit those small interferences, those small interruptions is great.
Sometimes it may seem as if we delegates are the enemy of the process. That we somehow stand in the way of the great works and plans you all have in mind for the city.
 Marianne Meed Ward delegating. But that begs the question, for whom are these great works and plans intended? Are they for the benefit of council? I prefer to believe council is bigger, nobler and above that self-interest. Are they for the benefit of Staff, I think not, indeed with all due respect many very dedicated staff members are citizens of other municipalities and even then their professionalism puts them above that.
No, the big plans and great works are for the citizens, those very same people who come here to delegate to advise council, to say please consider me, my family and my neighbours when you contemplate these great plans and great works for the future of my city, the future of our city.
We live in a time when even the best efforts and endeavors of all levels of government are looked upon as “elitist”; are perceived to serve special interest groups and appear to ignore Jane/Joe Public until election time rolls around.
 Vanessa Warren delegating. Limiting the input of citizens only feeds that perception, gives voice to the unreasonable because the reasonable voices feel stifled, limited, ignored.
We live in a time when the Rob Fords and Donald Trumps of this world lend false voice to the anger and frustration of those ignored and overlooked voters. Those brash populist voices, who defying common sense and reason somehow hold sway over electorates.
Not with wisdom, not with policy, not with vision but with the false promise that they will listen while whispering that the “Elitist, Mainstream Incumbents will not”.
When those voices hold sway, democracy fails us.
I urge council: Do not open that door to those small minds and loud voices.
We live in a city rated the best place to live in Canada, the best country in the world. That makes Burlington truly special. That enviable place in the world has been was achieved not just by the excellence of our city staffs, the guidance of dedicated councilors, of every political stripe, but also by a citizenry who love their city and who have participated in its plans and success over many years.
Our 25 year strategic plan very boldly calls for a city that engages its people, I urge council not to let that ambitious goal be tripped up at this, its first hurdle.
When you deny constituents the reasonable opportunity to advise you during council term at meetings such as this, you leave them no other option but to voice their frustrations through the ballot box at election time.
 Monte Dennis delegating. Look at recent election results, where voters vented their frustration at the perception that politicians are not listening, do not provide the opportunity for citizens to be heard, a perception that has given voice to the Fords, the Trumps and the Brexiteers who, bereft of policy or vision or even civil discourse, at least pretend to listen, pretend they will be the voice of the people.
Then proceed to undo all the good that has been done, the community that has been built by that slow and frustrating democratic process.
So far this delegation has taken about 5 minutes, and with more to say, I hope you can understand how limiting 5 minutes can be.
I will finish by challenging each of you who wish to limit the participation of citizens in the affairs of our city:
Will you please explain to this gathering tonight how limiting delegations to 5 minutes is good for our democracy, good for our city?
Will you then publish that explanation in your Newsletter for all your constituents to see and to judge for themselves?
Will you stand at your regular town hall gatherings and tell the people of your wards why you want to silence their voice?
Because you will stand before them in 2018 and they will demand to know.
If you cannot, in conscience, address your constituents on this issue, then you have accept an amendment to rescind that decision and restore the full 10 minute allotment for citizen delegations, or better still do the right thing and propose such an amendment yourself.
Your constituents will thank you for it. Burlington will thank you for it.
By Merron Vermeer
November 27, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
I think we can all agree that this is a much more urgent issue than hydro bills or housing prices. Let’s put some effort into protecting our most vulnerable.
Right now, if an adult has sex with a child, the minimum sentence is 1 year in jail. For “less serious” sexual crimes against children, six months is a possibility. These sexual predators can get out early on good behaviour. Nobody who violates the sanctity of a child’s body deserves to be rewarded for good behaviour. They have demonstrated behaviour that destroys a child’s trust in adults, a child’s right to be safe, a child’s sense of belonging in a just community. There are many addictions that hurt the addict.
But the sexual exploitation of children traumatizes the innocent with wounds that never heal. No one who uses a child to satisfy a physical urge and then walk away without remorse should get any free pass for good behaviour. The behaviour is abhorrent. Unfortunately, it is easier than ever for this depravity to continue. There is a growing community of child abusers who work together to satisfy their destructive urges.
 A pedophile is mentally ill. They are a danger to the public, especially vulnerable children. Jail is not the only solution. I know bad things happen in this world, and I can usually read about it, worry about it, and then hold my own children close, while trying to move on. But this? This is too absurd to me. How is this not the MOST punishable crime in Canada? The longest jail sentence. Right alongside murder. Have you ever talked to a victim of sexual abuse? It’s a life long sentence. A struggle to rise above the despicable acts that were performed on them in their most vulnerable stage of life. Trust in humanity is broken.
Those images and feelings of violation and helplessness never leave them. There is unwarranted guilt. Embarrassment. But most painfully, abandonment of community. We, as a society, allow their predators back out, to walk the streets, enjoying a freedom that victims will never feel.
As well, since most of these crimes are perpetrated by men, women start to distrust all men. It’s not fair to the good men that are just as passionate about the safety and well-being of children as any woman. My dad. My husband. My son. But sadly, when the media reports the details of yet another pedophile, it weakens the trust we have in men. Human decency demands that men and women work together to strengthen the laws that protect our most vulnerable.
Currently, the Canadian courts can offer a lighter sentence to pedophiles who agree to medication or chemical castration that will help to manage their sexual impulses. But they cannot force them to continue treatments indefinitely once the sentence has been completed. Physical castration is considered the most severe and controversial response to sex crimes. But, you know what? It would be a pretty effective deterrent!
I am a mother and a kindergarten teacher. I am particularly invested in, and connected to our most innocent community members. I will take every one of these stories of twisted, self-indulgent pedophiles to my grave. I will n.e.v.e.r understand how a human being could take pleasure in the sexual violation of babies. It is brutal and cruel and there is NO excuse.
With the increase in demand for child pornography, child prostitution, and other forms of child exploitation, I hope there will be appropriate consequences that send the message to pedophiles that they are NOT okay. Their actions will be punished. They will be judged harshly. No second or third or fourth chances. I get it that they are sick. Most times they ADMIT this in court. They’re mentally ill. But in these cases, they must be held criminally responsible. If that means castration, so be it. I need to know that the children on my watch can play in the park without fear. That, as a community, we will judge sexual predators harshly and demand the kind of punishment that will deter them.
Speak out against this insidious behaviour before it threatens even one more innocent life. Children trust us to keep them safe. I want the legal system to reflect this by getting tougher on sexual crimes against children.
Merron Vermeer is a mother and a kindergarten teacher with the Halton Board of Education. She shares her personal views.
 Editor’s note: Every pedophile was at some point in their early lives abused. It becomes a self-perpetuating circle. There is a way to break that process: Circles of Support and Accountability – a process that allows the community to take responsibility for the damage that was done. No one was born a pedophile – the society they were raised in got them to the point where they damage others.
By Ray Rivers
November 25th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
It is said that in order to know where you want to go, you need to know where you’ve been. In political life that is called experience and education. So what makes a 19 year old first-year university student think he has the qualifications to represent a provincial riding at Queen’s Park? And why would the electors put someone with so few qualifications into office.
 Sam Oosterhoff elected to serve as the Member of the provincial parliament for Niagara West- Glanbrook. That is what voters in the recent by-election of Niagara West-Glanbrook (NWG) did. Sam Oosterhoff is the youngest MPP to grace the halls of Queen’s Park, ever. It might be an age thing though. The voters in that area first elected former PC leader Tim Hudak at age 27 making him one of the youngest MPP’s at that time. And if this trend continues we could expect the next member from there to take up office at the ripe old age of eleven. Perhaps this is a brilliant strategy by the voters to engage youth in the political process. If we can’t get them to turn out to vote, then we’ll just have to elect them into office.
Or perhaps it is the fashion these days – electing unqualified candidates. People are fed up with those professional politicians who have worked their way up – you know the ones the rabble refer to as the elites. US president-elect Donald Trump is more than 50 years older than Sam, but has neither worked in government, nor sought, let alone been elected to, any political office. But that didn’t stop almost half of voting Americans from putting the ignoramus into the highest office in the land. Some Americans would rather have Sam as their president, I’m sure.
There is something about democracy ensuring that you get the government you deserve. And maybe experience doesn’t matter anymore. If that is the case then why do our MPP’s get six figure salaries? If experience counts for nothing what is this nonsense about having to pay the big bucks to attract good candidates, when any Joe can do the job? Not many of Sam’s peers at university will be pulling in that kind of dough as they finish off their degrees.
Isn’t it about respect in the end? How can we claim to respect our electoral system when almost anybody can be elected? Well anybody should be able to get elected, but wouldn’t it behoove them to at least have a little experience under their belt? There are few tests for candidates, though the political parties have a screening process. Did young Sam slip though the cracks or was this some kind of joke the Tories were playing on the electors.
The truth is that the only qualification that matters in politics is that you have been elected. Looking back to the US election, while everyone concedes that Hillary Clinton was the most qualified candidate to contest that position in years, that alone didn’t get her elected. Sometimes it’s style, charisma, star quality or sympathy that wins the hearts of the voters – nothing to do with the candidates actual experience.
 Progressive Conservative candidate Sam Oosterhoff, for Niagara-West Glanbrook, speaks to members of the media after casting his vote in the byelection at Spring Creek Church in Vineland, Ontario. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Lynett Some might say that electing Sam was a protest vote against the Wynne government, but NWG had been a Tory riding for over two decades – and re-electing a Tory is hardly a protest. That would be an even greater insult to Sam, who was likely running for what he could do, rather than trying to keep the government from doing what they do.
And while the Liberals may be stuck at the bottom of the polls, they had no trouble retaining the other by-election seat up for grabs last week in Ottawa-Vanier. So we can only wish Sam the best as he embraces his new job. It will be a full-time learning curve – and with his MPP salary, a very expensive education.
 Ray Rivers writes weekly on both federal and provincial politics, applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was a candidate for provincial office in Burlington in 1995. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Niagara West-Glanbrook – Sam Oosterhoff – More Oosterhoff –
By James Burchill
November 24th, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Interruptions cost more than the time taken … they impact your efficiency and your productivity. Some studies suggest that a single interruption (email ding, phone call, social media status ping, co-worker walking into your office) costs you between 15 and 30 minutes of productivity.
Here’s why: the actual interruption takes you “out of the work flow” you were in and once the interruption has ended, you require time to get back to that level of performance before the interruption. As indicated, this can be as much as 30 minutes. Imagine if you were interrupted every half and hour … you’d barely get any work done.
Oh wait, that’s why most open plan offices are (IMHO) such poor productivity hubs. When I worked for a company I always stipulated an office with an opaque or solid door (so you can’t see people waving at you to see if you’re “free”) that I could close. I trained my staff that certain times I was open to interruptions but when my door was closed … you’d better be running to tell me the building was on fire or that you cut off a limb and needed 911! Protect your time … you can’t manufacture any more and those people that are most productive in a day, are usually the ones that do.
Checking Your Email
Remember email is NOT a TO DO list. Also, email is someone else’s agenda – NOT YOURS. Finally, batch your email checking and responding to scheduled times each day. Sometimes I quickly check the SUBJECT LINE and FROM field for “client fires” and “expected deliverables” first thing in the morning but my proper review/reply is at noon and finally once more at 4pm. It’s been the single biggest productivity booster I’ve ever implemented (second only to finding my most productive hours) and now I’m dogmatic about it.
Unsolicited Phone-Calls
I never take an unsolicited call from a number I don’t recognize, ever. People can leave messages and I will choose to call back if I am interested. Also, I prefer email over phone because I read 5X faster than I can talk! Also, it encourages people say what they mean … I got tired of voicemails like this: “Hi James, it’s [name or often “Me”] … call me when you have a moment.” Seriously? How the heck am I supposed to prioritize that message?
Guess what … I don’t call back when I get messages like that.
If you want to leave me a message then do us both a favour and state WHO it is that calling, say WHAT you want and say WHEN you need it. Also for extra points, tell me the URGENCY/IMPORTANCE factor as you perceive it. For example, “Hey James, it’s John Smith calling about the web project. The client needs an update by Friday at 5pm. Can you please advise status by end of day tomorrow?
If you can do that – you begin to get more productive.
James Burchill is the founder of Social Fusion Network – an organization that meets regularly in Burlington to allow networking and relationship building. He also writes and trains people about how to make technology work for them.
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