As many Miltonians are aware, Metrolinx recently announced many changes to the GO bus schedules for Milton which included the number 20 bus from Milton to Sheridan College in Oakville. The province had sighted a few reasons for the cancellation including low ridership and cost savings.
The option devised by GO Transit/Metrolinx was for riders to take Rt 25 or 29 from the Highway Park and Ride at RR25 to Erin Mills station in Mississauga and then transfer to Rt 46 to Sheridan College. Let’s see…drive to 401 & 25, then go to Mississauga and then go to Oakville. This doesnt make sense at all.
Ridership numbers aside, this was the only north / south transit route to connect Milton with its Halton municipal partner Oakville. A number of students and employees living in Milton have contacted myself along with other councillors and Milton Transit to express their intense opposition to the move. Personally I feel that if we want to reduce traffic on our roads, encourage transit as an option for people who don’t have cars or the means to go back and forth – especially students – there needs to be a revisit of this decision.
I received an email from Metrolinx the other day letting us know about an upcoming Town Hall meeting they are hosting in Burlington to discuss services and transit planning. Seeing how there is no other local Milton location for the town hall, I am putting this information out to residents and transit advocates to head down to Burlington to let their views known.
Here is the email.
A friendly note that we’re bringing the Metrolinx Town Hall series to Burlington! Join CEO Phil Verster and our Senior Management Team in-person or online on February 5, at 7PM. Metrolinx Town Halls are an opportunity for communities to ask our leadership about services, transit planning or anything else.
Date: February 5, 2019 – 7:00PM to 8:30PM Location: Burlington GO Station Main Station Building 2101 Fairview St. Burlington, ON L7R 2C8
Please visit the social media links and register to attend the event on February 5th or submit your comments via the Facebook page and let them know they need to reinstate Route 20 or provide a more seamless route so that people living in Milton and working in Oakville and students who attend Sheridan College have a fast and easy way to travel.
In a new edition of my show on YourTV Halton “Local Matters” I sit down with Milton Mayor Gord Krantz to discuss the first full year of our council term 2018-2022. We talked about the regional review that just passed, our budgets, future plans for Milton Education Village with Laurier University & Conestoga College as well as whats coming in 2020 and beyond.
You can tune into Local Matters every Tuesday at 8pm on YourTV Halton on Channel 14/700 HD and repeated throughout the week.
There are few moments in your life where you can truly say “this was a life changing experience”
Last night I had the opportunity to attend “Living on the Edge” at NUVO Network in Burlington that was organized by the United Way Halton & Hamilton. This event was booked as a “poverty simulation workshop” and most of the attendees didn’t really know what to expect.
As we
entered the room we were put into our groups.
Some were in groups of different numbers and quickly took our seats.
I was
assembled in a group of 3 and my new name was Quinten Quant who was a 40-year-old
single father of a 20-year-old and 9-year-old and grand father to a 1 year
old. Each of the groups were given
scenarios based on real life examples of people who live in poverty. Quinten works 40 hours a week making $10.75
per hour but with a long list of expenses like food, day care, and
transportation costs.
Each of the
families were given a package of items, household items, jewellery, and
appliances along with other details of the life. In our situation our 9-year-old had a
disability and asthma that required medication and special care.
We were
quickly told the “rules” of the simulation.
There were tables around the room ranging from a grocery store, childcare,
our general employer along with other places like a pawn shop, payday loan
company, jail and some social services for those who felt they needed it.
Photo courtesy of Brad Park Twitter
To be able
to get to one of these tables, we needed transportation credit. If not, we were sent away unable to get the
help we needed.
A month of
living divided up into 4 weeks….15 minutes per week. The whistle quickly blew, and we were off.
As with real
life you have to deal with your situations without much thought to prepare and
you have make very quick decisions.
In our first
“week” of life I was attempting to get to my employer but had to ensure I had
enough transportation tokens to make it there all week. A flurry of activity and some confusion with
all the different groups lining up to go to work, take their children to childcare,
some went shopping for groceries if they had the resources to do so. My head was spinning while waiting in line
watching others attempt to figure out how to make things work. Then it was my turn to go to work.
I was
greeted by the “boss” very curtly and was told I was late and if it kept
happening Id be out of a job. I tried to
stammer out the reason being there were 20 people in line ahead of me, but the
time was limited. After given some work
to do, I went back up to get my paycheque.
Feeling good I quickly went to the bank at other table to cash my
cheque, but by the time I got to the teller, the bank was closed.
Feeling a
little frustrated at that fact I was forced to run over to the Pay Day Loan
Cheque cashing company only to find they took an insane amount of a percentage
from that pay and I was forced to purchase some more transportation. 12 minutes went fast which left 3 minutes for
the weekend. As I returned “home” I
found a note saying one of my children was in jail for missing school. I then had to use up one of my transportation
credits to pick them up and return home.
I was totally focused on earning the money, I let other details go and
the family was left to their own devices.
The clock
continued to tick and before you could get the briefest of discussion and plan
set for the next “week” everyone was off and running. The next thing I know, I was late for work
for the week, and didn’t receive a paycheque.
The dominos of confusion tumbled and a feeling of panic continued to rise as those of us were running around tying to figure out how “to win” are at least get a step ahead as we tried to scramble around to see where we were going to get money for utilities and more transportation.
Sadly, due to circumstances, we neglected to get food at the store which meant that our family of 4 did not have food for the week.
The whistle
blew and it was now “week 3” – March break.
We’re going to figure things out and get a handle on the situation and
we tried to allocate tasks for the 20-year-old in the family who had to take
care of a 9 and one year old.
They were
going to pay the outstanding bills that were left on our home’s door, get food
and I was going to make sure I didn’t miss another weeks worth of wages.
Needless to say,
this continued on for another half hour which represented another 2 weeks and
before we knew it, time was up, and we returned to an eviction notice on the
door. I got the pay cheque but didn’t
pay the bills on time and our family ended up homeless.
This is just a quick summation of just one of the scenarios that were handed out to everyone in attendance.
Photo courtesy of Nuvo Network Twitter
The crowd in attendance was now exhausted, both physically and mentally. We were now seeing what can happen if life happens and we lose control. During the debriefing, some of the participants commented on the challenges they faced over the “four-week period”
The feedback
from the crowd afterwards was not expected and almost surprising. Some admitted to being confused and unsure of
what to do when the bills came due. One said
they went to the pawn shop with most of their belongings to get cash to pay for
food and rent.
It was almost shocking to hear that some of the participants had resorted to and admitted afterwards that they resorted to walking around stealing from other homes.
What seemed impossible to comprehend at first, this is the position many in poverty find themselves.
Young people
and old turning to crime in order to make money to buy food. What would seem like an impossible decision
for some of us to make during the simulation, is made daily by people living in
poverty.
To say this exercise initiated some raw emotions is an understatement. Our debriefing after elicited some very real responses by those in attendance. After I got in my car, after going to the local coffee shop to head back home, with food in the fridge, with the lights on … it hit me. This was just a glimpse; a meager hour of my life that I had to deal with these issues. Others have to deal with this every single day.
A world of thank you’s goes to the people in charge of organizing this event. Many of us didn’t know what to expect as we entered the room, but things were clearer as we left the room. Poverty is an issue that needs a multi faceted approach to solving it. It will require all levels of government to look at finding the solutions in cooperation with service agencies and organizations like UWHH and with the community as a whole.
This was just one of the #UnIgnorable issues that face the Halton and Hamilton community. This is why its so important to support our local agencies and the United Way Halton & Hamilton. To learn more please visit www.unitedwayhh.ca
Looking for something to do with your kids tomorrow? If they can’t be in school, bring them to our outdoor classrooms instead! ❄️🌲🦉🦅🐦🐴🐾
Crawford Lake will have snowshoe rentals available from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM and guided tours of the Longhouse Village with fire starting demonstrations at 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM.
Mountsberg will have bird of prey shows at 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM, horse drawn wagon rides at 12:30 PM, 1:00 PM, 1:30 PM and 2:00 PM. The play barn and animal barn at Mountsberg will also be open from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Welcome to the new year and new decade in the Town of Milton. I am looking forward to bringing you more news and information on this website as our community continues to grow & prosper in 2020.
Milton council kicked the decade off with our annual Mayor & Councillors New Year’s Levee at Town Hall with over 200 people attending, spreading good cheer & enjoying snacks provided for and served by council members. Thank you all for attending the levee we urge you to stay involved in what’s happening in Milton over the next several months.
Please click on the podcast section of this site to listen to my most recent updates.
There are a lot of things happening now and stay tuned to this site on how you can be involved. We have hired our permanent CAO Andrew Siltala and things are going to be moving forward rapidly.
Go to www.letstalkmilton.ca and register to be involved in our official plan review We Make Milton and have your say on the directions we’re taking as we move towards 2040 and beyond. I want to hear from you as we continue to build our complete community.
As always feel free to contact me anytime Mike.Cluett@Milton.ca, call/text/WhatsApp me at 647-888-9032 or comment here on the site.
Yesterday people in Halton Region were devastated to hear the news of the murder of Laura Grant in Burlington. Today we received word that her husband has been charged with murder.
This incident serves as a reminder that domestic violence remains an issue in our community no matter how affluent or challenged it may seem. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with head on.
But this should also serve others as a reminder that if you are in a relationship based in emotional violence, verbal or physical abuse that there are resources for you available.
