Mike Wallace live this evening on Facebook.

council 100x100By Pepper Parr

August 27th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Mike Wallace will be doing his third Facebook Live program this evening between 7:00 and 8:00 pm.

You can tune into the program and participate – you ask a question, Mike sees it on a screen – reads the question and does his best to answer it.

The second program was the one we saw – Mike was a little choppy – he didn’t seem to have that good a grip on the facts behind the question. There was no one off camera feeding him the facts and figures on the developments or issue he was being asked.

There is usually a smile on Mike Wallace's face. He enjoys life and has a good time. This summer it is his intention to run in a marathon in every province.

This is the Mike Wallace tat is missing from his Let’s Talk Facebook Live program – the sense of humour seems to be missing.

Mike is a good speaker – but he didn’t come across all that well on the Facebook Live. Normally you hear Mike before you see him in a room – there is that laugh, a good, strong healthy laugh from a guy who is having fun and is at ease.

The sessions last an hour and they are archived. He answered a question about the Georgian Court Estates in Aldershot (right on the border between what we see as Burlington and what most people see as Aldershot) where the intensification is going to be very significant. 275 units to something approaching 1000+.

Georgian Court Estates

The Aldershot Georgian Court community is going to undergo a massive change – Wallace see it as something the city needs. The developer sees that need as an opportunity for more intensive development. More people in less space.

These are low cost rental units – we describe them as “affordable”. Wallace believes there is a very serious need for housing people can afford. This doesn’t mean subsidized public housing – this is private developments that are reasonably priced; they won’t have a polished granite counter top and all the whistles and bells that go into those million dollar condos that are being built in the downtown core.

Parking-lot-Locust-street-300x221

Wallace has an idea for a second parking garage on the east side of the city.

Wallace talked about parking and the need for a fact based approach to just what the parking needs are going to be going forward. He emphasized that the study that is underway now needs to be completed as soon as possible so that decisions can be made.

Wallace, in what could have been a very funny line said he did not believe ‘we are all going to be walking or cycling and added: “I am a realist”.

He said that the buildings that have been approved would be very very difficult to stop – if at all.

In events like this there are what are called ‘softball’ questions. The Randall Reef question was one of those. You get someone to phone in and ask a question that makes the person look good when they answer. It is doubtful that two in every thousand people in the city even know what and where Randal Reef is (It’s in Hamilton) Wallace deserve major credit for ensuring the federal funds got to that project – it was polluting the water in our end of Lake Ontario.

Randall reef

Tonnes of toxic sludge rest on the bottom of Hamilton harbour. It is all going to be encased in concrete with parts of the are turned into park space.

Randall Reef is the second largest location of pollution in the country – second only to the tar pool ponds in Nova Scotia. It is the result of decades of carcinogenics that flowed from the coke ovens that were once used to generate electricity for Hamilton. The work is one of those vital but not very glamorous expenses that governments have to undertake.

Mikes approach to communicating with people is certainly different – how effective it is going to be will be known on October 22nd – they day people vote.

In his second session he mentioned the need for more parking space and said that he has an idea for some parking space on the east side of Brant Street – he wouldn’t say where but he did say it was on private property and there would be private interests involved.

From Lets Talk

The laugh and the Wallace sense of humour were missing.

Mike is on the screen all by himself with two monitors that feed him information. Adding a staff member to appear on screen aiding with the questions would add to the quality of the show – and if Mile could let that sense of humour show – it could be a better production. Shifting the camera a bit would help as well. Mike seems to be looking down much of the time.

Wallace is doing something different and the Let’s Talk session are all archived on his web site. Certainly worth looking at – he wants to be Mayor and he just might get there.

Click along to the web site – interesting.

 

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