Top 10 reasons to vote on Oct 27th Number 4 Government closest to the people

Why vote in your municipal elections?  I have been trying to highlight the importance of it over the last few posts and last few years.
Local government is called "the government closest to the people" and without a doubt it is.
I use this analogy when I present at the Grade 10 Civics classes
If the Federal government stopped working when would you notice?  Unless you are travelling cross border, or serve in the military it may be weeks before you notice.
If the provincial government stopped it may be weeks unless you needed to renew a drivers licence or health card.  of course with Service Ontario you could be in line that long and given 3 different answers to the same question.
But if the local government stopped you would notice almost immediately.  The water for your morning coffee and shower is provided by your local government.  As is the police, firefighters and paramedics that keep our communities safe.
Try driving on only provincial roads.  Well the 401 is good but once you exit it you are likely on Regional or town roads.
Our health departments working with the province provides inoculations for those travelling to foreign countries.  But also it leads the inspections to make sure our restaurants and pubs are safe, our servers trained and the water is tested.
All our parks, recreational facilities and roads are planned for by the local government.
How can you be part of it?  Contact the candidates, read their material and learn what is planned in your neighbourhood.
But it all starts with the simple act of voting.  it only takes about 5 minutes to do it.
Can you not spare 5 minutes to see how your tax dollars are spent?

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