town of milton

New ward system in Milton

Mike Cluett

I had a chance to attend the open house of the Milton Toastmaster’s Club last night and it was quite a success.  Not only were there lots of current members there, but also a large number of interested people, like myself, to see what it was all about.

It was a great event and it was capped off with a presentation by Gary Mull about how to be not just an acceptable speaker, but an exceptional speaker.  As someone who is in the sales profession, I always keep my mind open to new ways to make presentations even if some of the ideas and skills I already have.  The more you hear about them the more chance of you using them are.  I like to call them the “a-ha” moments.

If you were ever curious on what the Milton Toastmasters are all about, I urge you to attend their meetings as a guest (every Tuesday night at the Royal Canadian Legion in Milton from 7:30pm to 9:30pm).  You will be surprised to know who members of the Toastmasters were in the past.

While waiting for Gary to speak I had a chance to introduce myself to a few people there and some recognized that I was running for council.  Inevitably the question comes up…which ward?  I proceed to tell them Ward 6 and I’m usually met with a “huh-like” stare.  For years Milton has been divided into 4 wards with two councillors in each ward representing them.

Recently the ward boundaries in Milton have been changed becoming effective for the 2010-2014 term of council.  This isn’t the first time I have run into people not knowing where ward 6 or any ward for that matter.  Outside the original news story about the changes, nothing has been said since about the changes by the Town of Milton.  I think the Town of Milton staff needs to do a better job in educating voters on the changes as much as possible.  Before you know it, election time will be here and people will be scrambling to figure out where they are and how to vote.

This past January a number of candidates, including yours truly, made the trek to Town Hall to file our nomination papers to become candidates in this election.  So far there are close to 20 people who will be asking Milton voters for their support over the coming months to represent them around the council table.

In the past couple of weeks, I have also had a chance to take advantage of the nice weather and knock on a few doors in our ward to introduce/reintroduce myself as the candidate for the area.  I was actually taken aback as to how many people remembered me from 2006 and even further still, how many people had my old magnet on their fridge almost 4 years later.  If you’re a parent of a kid in school, magnets are a must.  Stay tuned for that.

I also found most of the people I spoke with didn’t have a clue about the ward changes or which ward they lived in.

What ward do you live in?  Do you even know that the wards were changed?  Every one in town seems to know about the Milton Sports Centre expansion and the speedy design and construction of the arts & entertainment centre (that’s a discussion for another time) but hardly anyone knows what ward they live in or who their councillor is.

Part of the responsibility of the candidates for election is to educate the voters on where they live, which ward they will be voting in and (hopefully) garner their support and vote on Election Day.

I will be doing more entries as the days/weeks/months go on reminding people that things have changed for this election, thanks to the provincial government, which include a new date for the election.

October 25, 2010.  Mark that date in your calendar, as I have of course, as the date for the next municipal election.

I am running for the local council position for Ward 6 which is encompassed by the following boundaries.

NORTH:  DERRY ROAD

SOUTH:  BRITANNIA ROAD

EAST:  FOURTH LINE

WEST:  THOMPSON ROAD

If you click here, you will see the map of Ward 6.  If you live within this boundary, I am your candidate for council.  There are other positions you can vote for (regional council, public/separate school board trustee, mayor, regional chair) but more on that later.

If you want to see the ward boundaries for the entire Town of Milton you can visit www.milton.ca and find out where you live, and which ward you live in.

I’ll see you at the doors!

***UPDATE*** Laura Steiner from the Halton Compass has a Milton oriented blog as well.  She recently did a posting on the ward boundary changes thats a good read too.  Thanks Laura!

http://miltonviews.blogspot.com/2010/03/follow-changing-ward-boundaries.html

2009 Milton Council Expenses

Mike Cluett

Over the last couple of days, I have been working on getting back to a number of emails I received this week.  The general tone of these emails was about fiscal responsibility.  It reminded me of this weeks committee meeting, and lost in the excitement in the number of public meetings which went to 10:30PM, there was a report to council that stated the remuneration and expenses of our elected officials for 2009. This report includes the salaries of the councillors, the amount of benefits they receive, expenses incurred for professional development and mileage they claimed.

Click on the image below.

Out of the local councillors it looks like Ward 3 councillor Cindy Lunau received the most remuneration lead by a large mileage allowance of over $4,300.00 (total $ 35, 635.12) and the most thrifty local councillor is Ward 1 councillor Rick Day at $ 29,216.00 for 2009.

After looking at the list you will see Mayor Krantz tops the list in mileage at just over $5,000 but in all fairness our Mayor does a lot of travelling in and around the province and realistically should be the only councillor to submit mileage for reimbursement.  Remember, the local councillor position is “part time”.

There are a number of councillors whos claims for mileage is rather excessive in my opinion and its seems to be a regular trend.  Lets look at 2008 for instance.

The trend continued back in 2007 and 2006 with very similar numbers.  The first question that comes to mind … “Is Ward 3 REALLY that far to claim mileage?”

What do you think?  Is it justified?  Should our councillors be more frugal with tax payers dollars?

I look forward to hearing what you have to say.  I’ll see you at the doors.

Milton Mutt Strutt May 2nd 2010

Mike Cluett
Milton Mutt Strutt May 2nd 2010
Milton Mutt Strutt May 2nd 2010

Sunday May 2nd 2010 the Oakville and Milton Humane Society will be having the first annual Milton Mutt Strutt to be held at the Milton Fairgrounds.  Check out the website for more information.  Notice the new name OAKVILLE & MILTON HUMANE SOCIETY!  They have changed the name to reflect the area they cover. 

www.oakvillemiltonhumane.ca

There are many ways for you to get involved in helping out this organization.  You can download a copy of the pledge form here and get started.  Bring your pets for a walk to remember and raise $$$ for the Oakville & Milton Humane Society.

You can call them (905) 845-1551 to find out more information.  Should be a great day, so put it in your calendar now!

Changes to Ontario’s Hospital Funding Formula

Mike Cluett

Today in the Ontario Legislature the governing Liberal party announced via the Throne Speech potential changes to Ontario hospital funding formula.

Details are expected to be released when the budget is delivered later this month by Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.  Will this mean more or less funding available for hospitals like Milton and the surrounding areas?

Will areas that are experiencing massive road (ie MILTON, ON) receive more funding to match the ever increasing demand for services or will we be left by the wayside?

Here is a link to the article in the Globe and Mail this afternoon.

More to come later.

Karen Howlett

Toronto — From Monday’s Globe and Mail Published on Sunday, Mar. 07, 2010 10:07PM EST Last updated on Monday, Mar. 08, 2010 3:31AM EST

Ontario is preparing a radical change to hospital funding, tackling health costs by tailoring hospital budgets to match the size and age of their communities.

The new formula, which could quickly spread to other provinces if successful, would also give more money to hospitals that treat patients more efficiently, according to health care insiders and sources close to the government.

Governments across Canada face aging populations that are driving up health costs. The pressure is particularly acute in Ontario, where health care consumes 42 cents of every dollar in program spending, while the province struggles with a record deficit of $24.7-billion.

The new approach would do away with the global hospital budgets that for decades have allocated funding evenly across the board, and could reshape the way health spending priorities are set. Premier Dalton McGuinty’s so-called Health Based Allocation Model, or HBAM for short, would divert more money to hospitals in regions where the population is growing and aging . The proposed model, which may be announced as soon as the provincial budget later this month, would also reward better-performing hospitals. They would be in line for additional money based on how cost-effectively they treat patients.

“It’s hugely controversial because there could be winners and losers,” said a hospital executive who asked not to be named.

The model is designed to close the gap between hospitals that have more than enough funding to meet their operating budgets and those that are deep in deficit. Under such a scenario, some hospitals would receive no funding increase at all, the sources said.

Changing the way hospitals are funded would not actually produce savings for the province, especially when labour costs account for a huge chunk of a hospital’s budget. But the change would slow down the pace of growth, now running about 6 per centv a year, because it would put pressure on hospitals to operate more efficiently, the sources said.

“HBAM has never been about saving money,” said a source close to the government. “It’s all about getting the incremental new dollars to the most needed areas.”

The new model would direct extra funding to hospitals that serve growing populations, or populations of above-average age, which can be expected to have higher health care costs.

Under the current regime, Ontario’s 154 hospitals received a funding increase of 2.1 per cent for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, bringing their total base funding to $14.9-billion. But the government also quietly topped-up funding for a handful of cash-strapped hospitals. William Osler Health Centre, which operates three hospitals in Etobicoke, Brampton and Peel, received a $20-million increase to its base funding, the largest of any group.

Duncan Sinclair, professor emeritus and former dean of medicine at Queen’s University who led a restructuring of Ontario’s system in the 1990s, said most provinces are moving in the direction of introducing incentives for hospitals to boost their productivity.

“It would seem that Ontario is following a general trend,” he said.

Some hospitals already receive a portion of their funding based on pay-for-performance. For example, just under one-third of the funding for University Health Network, one of Canada’s largest operators, is based on performance because of the complexity of services offered by its three hospitals in Toronto.

Tom Closson, head of the Ontario Hospital Association, has urged the government to adopt a funding system that takes into account the quality of service a hospital provides as well as the mix of patients.

“The concept makes a lot of sense,” he said in an interview yesterday. “It ensures that we’re taking into consideration the community being served as well as the efficiency of the organization.”

But he cautioned that the proposed system should not be applied across the board to smaller hospitals in small towns and rural Ontario. Natalie Mehra of the Ontario Health Coalition also said expanding pay-for-performance to small hospitals would lead to further disparities between the level of care available in rural versus urban Ontario, and would force patients to travel farther for care.

Miltons Newest School Named After Tiger Jeet Singh

Mike Cluett
tjs troys

Just this past week the Halton District School Board chose from a number of different name options for Milton’s newest school (known before as Milton #4) and it seems to have caused some controversy.  But the selection of the name couldn’t have gone to a better person.

The new school on Yates Drive that is due to open this coming fall, will be named Tiger Jeet Singh Public School.

This honour adds to the list of accomplishments this great Miltonian has earned over the years.  Tiger Jeet Singh, along with his son Tiger Ali Singh, are world renowned for their success in the field of professional wrestling.  You may remember Tiger Ali’s stint with the WWE (Formerly World Wrestling Federation) and since then he has moved on to more international success.  The mere mention of their names in the squared circle brought their opponents to submission as they are fierce competitors in the ring.

But thats just the wrestling persona’s.  Outside the ring, they are true ambassadors to the Town of Milton and do what they can to help both their home town and home country.  The list of philanthropic activities of Tiger is head spinning.  Here is a brief list (courtesy of local historian/author John Challinor)

• $200,000 donation to community of Sujapur, India (1990) (money used to build water and sewer infrastructure)
• $100,000+ donation committed to Milton District Hospital Foundation (2006)
• $35,000 raised through his leadership with Kopz4Kids (monies were shared between Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington and Halton Healthcare facilities in Georgetown, Milton and Oakville) (2008)
• $30,000 raised through his leadership with Troy’s Diner Toy Drive (2009) (toys went to local Salvation Army and Sick Childrens Hospital in Toronto )
• $25,000 donation to Milton Historical Society to publish local book of history, Milton Streets (2008)
• Annual pilgrimage to India to donate money, including the following:
o Five buses purchased for various Sikh temples in Punjab, India, so that poor had transportation to worship (2009)
o Land purchased for college campus in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, so students could study locally as most couldn’t afford transportation to study out-of-town (2009)
o Donated monies for clothing and other items to unspecified villages (1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s)
• Raised money with professional wrestler Lord Athol Layton for Shriners Foundation (late 1970s)
• Raised money with professional wrestler Whipper Billy Watson to help expand Newmarket Hospital and raise visibility for plight of handicapped children (early 1970s)
• Anonymous large annual donor to numerous local charities (ongoing)

Humanitarian Activities:

• Non-governmental ambassador (trade) to United Nations with a mandate to reach out to South-East Asian countries (2000 – 2001)
• World-wide Economic Development Ambassador to Milton, Ontario (1980s, 1990s, 2000s)
• Drug, alcohol, education and physical fitness (Tiger-fit) awareness advocate in Canada, Japan, South-east Asia, addressing thousands of parents and students (1990s, 2000s)
• Chief Patron, Punjabi Sahit Sabha of Ontario (organization facilitates education, culture, societal value and general promotion of Sikhism) (since 1976)
• Recognized leader in Canadian South-East Asian community that members from across the country come to when in need of guidance and support (1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s)
• Annual guest of honour at major South-East Asian community religious, community, athletic events (1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s)
• Annual guest of honour at Canada Kabaddi Cup (typically alongside Prime Minister of Canada) (ongoing)

And as I said…that’s just SOME of what Tiger Jeet Singh is involved in.

Recently reported in the Toronto Star, there was a column that outlined some parts of a popular Internet forum called The Hawthorne Villager.

Here is a what I posted. 

Milton Walk of Fame Inductee Tiger Jeet Singh, Canada Day 2007

 

Not that this decision needs to be defended, but I’ll put in my 2 cents worth.I have absolutely no problem with the name chosen for the school. All of the contenders, so to speak, were highly qualified to have their name adorn the school walls.

Both Tiger Jeet and Tiger Ali Singh were named as inaugural members of Milton’s Walk of Fame…an honour highly deserved.

The Tigers (Hans family) have grown up in Milton over the course of many years. They were residents of this town long before many of us were called Miltonians. During this time, they have given back to our community. One of the Hans’ sons is a member of the Halton police force, serving and protecting our community. There were stories in the past of what they had to endure from “rabid wrestling fans” and others alike who made life for that family almost unbearable. Too many stories that this family is too proud to talk about. Lets just say life wasn’t made easy for them.

Yet they stuck it out.

Tiger Jeet Singh is a world renowned wrestler and a classy gentleman who doesnt hesitate to offer his help whenever its needed (Troys Diner and other charities) I remember during the Canada Day Celebrations of Milton’s 150th anniversary (where he along with his son were inducted into Milton’s Walk of Fame) talking with him and listening to his acceptance  speech which was quite moving. More moving still was his son’s speech (Tiger Ali) and the pride that both of them felt for their home town. They felt the honour they received by being inducted to the Milton Walk of Fame was the highlights of their lives…and given the careers both individuals had, that’s saying something.

I had the privilage of being the soccer coach of their grandson and despite hectic schedules and travelling all over the world where they are still in demand, he made it to most of his grandsons soccer games.

Through all of this they call Milton their home and they burst with pride when they do so.

There are a number (way to many too count) of Miltonians who have lived here and currently live here that deserve the honour of having a school named after them and Tiger Jeet Singh IS one of those people.

***

 As far as I’m concerned Tiger Jeet Singh is an excellent choice to name the school.  He plans on taking part in the activities, as does fellow Milton Walk of Fame member Chris Hadfield of Hadfield Public School.  The children who attend this school will be lucky to have another role model to look up to.  And its doesnt just stop at Tiger Sr.  His sons and the rest of the family also are involved in bettering our community.  One of Tiger Sr.’s sons is a member of the Halton Police force, serving and protecting the community he grew up in.  I had the privilege of coaching Anthony’s soccer team a few years back and with his experience, helped me be a better coach. 

A great honour for a great champion!  Congratulations Tiger!  This is an honour which is well deserved.   More importantly…THANK YOU!

You can also read more about the decision at Troy’s Diner Blog with even more details on what Tiger has done for Milton, and children everywhere.

Milton Community Policing Committee

Mike Cluett

I had a very brief meeting last night of the Milton Community Policing Committee (people were in a rush to get home to watch Canada vs. Germany in Olympic hockey) and I wanted to give a bit of an update as to what the committee is doing over the next year.

For those of you who are unaware of what the committee does, here is the mission statement of the organization:

logo3

“The Milton Community Policing Committee’s purpose is to help promote a healthy and safe community, providing a means for residents, business owners, and community groups to communicate their concerns regarding public safety to all levels of government, and to work in a proactive and creative manner to address those concerns.”

The committee has been planning a number of events for 2010 which include taking part in the open houses of a number of new schools in Milton.  We will be having a table at the schools to inform parents, teachers and students of the committee’s presence and what we do. If everything works out, we will be having some local officers and fire fighters on site as well to teach kids about safety in and around our schools.

As you might have read in the Champion and in other papers, there recently was an attempted abduction of two children as they were going home from school.  Thankfully the kids knew exactly what to do and got home safely, called the police and the suspect was taken into custody.

Do your children know what to do in that situation?  What happens if the fire alarm goes off in school?  Does your family have an escape route planned in case of a fire or emergency in your home?

These are the things our local police and fire staff can teach both you and your children and that’s exactly why the MCPC are putting on these forums during the open houses.  All the dates and locations will be posted both here and on the MCPC website.

In addition to the schools, plans are now being finalized for a booth at this years Milton Street Festival on June 5th, 2010 in downtown Milton.  Close to 25,000 people are expected to flood Main Street this year and we will be there as well handing out information and answering any questions you might have.

We are always looking for people to join the committee so if you’re interested please email me mike@mikecluett.ca and I can provide you some details on how to get involved and help out making Milton a safer place to live.

Until then, I’ll see you at the doors.