Top 10 reasons to Vote on October 27 in the Municipal Elections.. Number 10

 Number 10 All aspects of your everyday life are in some way affected by your Town or Region.

Some people think that voting municipally does not matter.  Boy are they wrong!  So many parts of your day are touched by municipal government.  Every day your local Town or Region has a impact on your life.  All of the items that touch you from the moment you get up to to to bed are in some way provided by your municipality.
Consider this: When you wake up and go to make your morning coffee, the water was provided by your municipality and it is clean safe water, your well can be tested for free by the Region to make sure it is safe.  The coffee arrived on roads paid for by your taxes and cleaned and repaired by the Town. That is even before you got to a shower or drove to work.
The Police, Firefighters and paramedics who keep our community safe are paid for by your local taxes.
The local parks and facilities are planned and paid for by your taxes.
Everyday people are making their voices heard by working with their Councillors, Mayor and Town Staff to shape the future of our community.
Get out and meet the candidates running for office in your community.  Ask for their views on items of importance to you and your family.
Check out the Halton Hills website to see if your on the Voters list.  Go to http://haltonhills.ca/

Should they not hear your voice?

Buy American 2.0 UPDATE!

Anyone who has read the local papers and followed anything in Canadian Politics will be familiar with the fight Halton Hills started against the US on protectionist measures.
In April 2009 Halton Hills was the first Municipality that passed a resolution opposing the US and its protectionist measures contained in stimulus bills.
In June FCM passed after much discussion unanimously a motion opposing the Buy American provisions and supported free and fair trade. The contentious part was on not purchasing from countries that did not support our principles.

In August the Premiers of the country came on board and started to push the Feds to take action. Canada was literally bleeding jobs over it.
In September the Feds under Former Minister Day started pressing the US. It took until February to get an agreement but we did!
It was a long tough process and taught me more about international trade then I ever knew!

The bad part is its back! A recent bill put before the house has provisions that require any material used in Municipal projects that receive Federal money to be made in the US. At first blush it may sound innocuous but it is dangerous! With the NAFTA deal parts during process go back and forth across the border as components are added. Final assembly may be here but the pieces may have been made in the US. Or visa versa. That is the idea behind free and fair trade.

The imposition of protectionist measures is politically an easy one. If you were a leader in a economically depressed area in the US it becomes a Motherhood statement. The constituencies may think that it is a way to greater jobs and economic prosperity. But in a global economy our companies compete and can compete on the world stage.

The US economy is in deep trouble still. With elections coming next year they are looking for ways to get it kick started. But the President, the House, Senate and the leaders need to pay heed to the history of the depression befor embarking on more protectionist measures.

In Canada labour union groups and left wing groups that from for them have been pushing Buy Canadian policies. It is a dangerous fools game to enter.
The big push they have is to have material handed out locally espousing fear and unsubstantiated material that like Chicken Little has “the sky is falling.”
In Halton Hills it is interesting as we do not get contacted by them, nor do they send the material to us. But neighbouring towns do!
I guess it is because we can look past the rhetoric and see the reality behind the screen!
It is a shame that yesterdaay CBC News reported that the US Ambassador isaid that Canada will not recieve an exemption under the Buy American provisions.
We have a tenuous world economy. The US is hurting and elections seem to forever loom on the horizon. But why would they risk plunging the world into a deeper recession or a deppresion?
It seems they simply are looking at the immediate and not focusing on what may need to be done down the road.
I have always like Obama and thought he may bring change to the US. I must admit I am disapointed that he would persue the protectionist route.

The Idiocy of Litter!

This past Saturday, as I have done every year for almost the last 10, I was out picking up litter that people throw out carelessly.
If these idiots spent as much time picking up bag after bag of litter as they do for the careless and mindless action of throwing it out, our roads would look a lot better!

The Hornby Are Ratepayers group (HARP) started the clean up of the area around Hornby 11 yrs ago. Since then it is estimated they have picked up 3,000 bags of litter, garbage tossed out by people as they drive by. Or the numbskulls who stop and do roadside dumping.
The Town Litter Free Task Force led by Jane Fogal has an army of volunteers who go out and spend time picking up fast food containers, household garbage, oil cans and of course water bottles. I have seen things like shopping carts, couches, tires and even a windshield picked up.

With the amount of pop bottles, cans and especially water bottles I am still convinced that there should be a deposit on the water bottles.
Last year I picked up a bag and found the address of who dumped it. My first thought was to drive out and deliver it with an “I think you dropped this…”
I am sure all of us would much rather spend the day at home preparing our gardens or with our families.


Instead we are out, wearing warm clothes, ankle deep in mud scouring our parks, ditches, downtowns and rural areas picking up other peoples garbage. It does give you a good feeling to see the area done that you had worked on cleaned up.

The Acton Quarry as a Town Park?

As we all know the Acton Quarry has been part of the business and social fabric here for over 100 yrs. From the production of crushed lime to the quarrying of rock. A piece of the Acton is in every major infrastructure project in southern Ontario.
The area north of 22 SR is to be completely mined out in about 6 to 7 yrs. Then the rehabilitation process begins. At one time this land was suggested to be a landfill site but after a very expensive legal battle that will not happen.
However, the Town has the formal option to purchase all of the rehabilitated land for 1 buck. It is about 300 hectares or 700 acres of land.

The town has a great opportunity to add significant open space at a low cost. However, we must first look at what our long term costs may be to the Town. There will be pumping required to keep water flowing to 16 mile creek and Black Creek. That maintenance costs needs to be factored in.


We also need to look at any potential liability the town may have with quarry walls about 50 feet high, a lake that is about 30 feet deep.
Also, our vision and that of the community needs to be looked at. What would the land be used for? Passive open space, fresh water fishing, bird sanctuary and naturally trails could all be accommodated.
I hope people will subjectively look at the options we have before us and give us your comments.
Opportunities like this do not come up that often for the Town so we need to do our due diligence.

How to build a better Canada

One of the amazing things that happens when you travel into “smaller town” Canada is the reception you receive from the people there. As I have in the past and present travelled across this great nation, I am always struck by our compassion and good nature.
Where else but a small Canadian City would you walk into a restaurant for breakfast and have all the patrons looking to see who were the new people entering. As they saw you not only were the shop keepers greeting you but the daily group who gather there for a coffee , breakfast and a chat all extend warm acknowledgement.
I am reminded of this today as I am in Corner Brook Newfoundland for meetings with FCM. Our March and September Board meetings move across this great land so we, as Municipal Leaders can learn the experience of our colleagues.
Corner Brook is a city of about 20,000 but is the hub on the western part of Newfoundland for government services.
Last night at an event in a matter of 20 minutes, I met people who had a niece in Georgetown, a daughter in Mississauga, family in Guelph and most amazingly someone who shopped in Acton.
When I said I was from near Brampton and narrowed it down, one man asked if I knew of the “Leather Place with the coats.” Here I was 2500 miles from home having a chat about the olde Hide House and his visit to Acton 15 years ago. He mentioned how he loved the look of the place and how they ate lunch in the restaurant. He said how they loved the jackets he and his wife bought and the time they had.
You can imagine the sense of pride and warmth I felt.
It is but one of the many nice surprises you get when you head out in Canada. You will find people say hello as you walk down the street. Cars stop in mid intersection to allow you to jay walk.
One of the things we are losing in places in Southern Ontario is our desire and drive to do some of those small town things. People shop with their heads down, their eyes not looking directly at people. Trying to avoid it almost seems is the human touch.
We would be well served to get “back to the country” and revisit small town Canada. A place where you will find 2 guys holding the doors open and each saying “go ahead”. A place where people like to hear your story and where you came from as you listen to theirs.
Everyone should, visit a place like Newfoundland, or spend a bit of time in the more rural parts of Canada. If we did we could build a better nation. Whether it is places like Paradise Newfoundland,Thompson Manitoba, Moncton NB, Weyburn Sask, Victoria BC, Oakville Manitoba or Oakville Ontario , our strength lies in our people.

Maybe we would not see the petty sniping politics we see lately in Ottawa, or Queens Park but true nation building.

CPR Training in Halton

In 2009 Halton Region EMS (Emergency Medical Services) responded to close to 31,000 calls. Of those about 360 were VSA (Vital Signs Absent). Meaning they showed no signs of life. Not breathing, no heartbeat, technically dead, but if someone is there and can quickly asses your situation and start early CPR, your chance of survival goes up dramatically.
We have all heard about how CPR saves lives. But it is just one link in the chain of survival for people who go into cardiac arrest.
The other part is having a nearby PAD (Public Access Defibrillators) near by and people trained to use them.
This past week our EMS Staff trained the Councillors on how to use the machines and gave us a CPR course. It took 90 minutes for 15 more people to be trained.
We received the new kits that we can pass on and train more people on how to do this simple, life saving technique.
Long before I was Chair of Health and Social Services I have always believed in the CPR/PAD chain. I had my first CPR course in 1981 and it took 8 hours.
Now in 90 minutes we can have people trained to recognise the signs of Heart attack or stroke, how to administer CPR and use a PAD.

The new kits have a DVD, small dummy and step by step instructions on how to use it..

When there is almost 1 call a day for a situation where CPR or PAD may need to be used. Would you not want to know how to save your loved one, neighbour or someone who needs assistance?
I feel Halton Region should strive to get more of its population trained. Approximately 30,000 have some CPR/Pad training. I would love to see us get that number to 50,000.
We need to figure out how to get there.
That one person per day could be a 16 yr old girl, a 80 yr old Grandfather, a 47 yr old mother or your son, daughter, mother, father or neighbour