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www.independentfreepress.com Editorial..................... 6 Calendar...10, 23-25 Sports .................... 22 Directory .......26, 27 Classifieds .....28-30 50 Cents (+ GST) Circulation: 22,800 CAN DO Local kids donate Disney trip cash to annual ALS fundraiser PAGE 3 CZECH IT OUT Georgetown residents off to Prague for World Indoor Lacrosse Championships PAGE 22 48 Pages Halton Hills' award-winning newspaper THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS THURSDAY, May 5, 2011 Results show Chong won by 26,000 votes Conservative candidate Michael Chong's margin of victory in Wellington-Halton Hills Monday night was even larger than in 2008, unofficial final federal election results show. Liberal candidate Barry Peters placed a distant second, followed by Anastasia Zavarella with the NDP, Green Party candidate Brent Bouteiller and CHP candidate Jeffrey Streutker. Preliminary results from the 250 polls provided by Elections Canada are: · Michael Chong (Conservative) 35,132 (63.7 per cent) · Barry Peters (Liberal) 9,034 (16.4%) · Anastasia Zavarella (NDP) 7,151 (13%) · Brent Bouteiller (Green) 3,515 (6.4%) · Jeffrey Streutker (CHP) 316 (0.6%) Voter turnout in the riding was 67.1 per cent, up 3.3 per cent from 2008. The Conservatives and NDP made significant strides in the riding compared to the 2008 election results, while the Green Party and CHP saw support slip. In that election Chong (Conservative) received 29,191 votes (57.6 per cent), Liberal candidate Bruce Bowser garnered 11,312 votes (22.3), Bouteiller (Green) 4,997 (9.9) NDP's Noel Duignan 4,747 (9.4) and Streutker (CHP) received 414 votes (0.8). Local calls to police down sharply By CYNTHIA GAMBLE Staff Writer In the first quarter of 2011, the number of calls for help to Halton Region Police is down by 538 in Halton Hills, representing a reduction in crime by 20.9 per cent. "We are hoping we can maintain that throughout 2011," said Halton Region Police Deputy Chief of Operations Bob Percy as he presented an overview of 2010 statistics and 2011 priorities to Halton Hills council last week. "We routinely have one of the lowest police to population ratios (1.26/1,000), one of the lowest staff to population ratios (1.80) and also one of the lowest cost per capita ratio ($231)," said Percy. But in 2010, the overall crime rate was up-- 3.8 per cent. Broken down, violent crimes were up 3.7 per cent, however, Percy attributes some of that increase to new provisions in the Safe Schools Act on what is reported as sexual assault. "I would never call sexual assault minor in nature, but there are varying classifications of these and that's where we saw the increases through the schools," he said. See STATS, pg. 5 Will that be one scoop or two? Trevor Ironside, 4, from Georgetown, was one of hundreds of area residents who turned out Saturday at the Robert C. Austin Public Works Yard for the free mulch giveaway. The event was part of the Town's Earth Day celebrations. For more photos see page 4. Photo by Calvin Dyke 7e HANDLE ALL INSURANCE work. Georgetown Volkswagen 203 Guelph Street 9 0 5 . 8 7 7. 5 2 8 5 georgetownvw.com Thinking of buying or selling? sTruck Accessories s5PHOLSTEry s(Eavy %QUIPMENT 'LASS s7INDow 4INTING 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown (905) 873-1655 0% APR up to 36 months* on our most popular models Dir: 416-991-4247 EFFIEatDIMOU 905-456-1000 at Sales Representative www.georgetownrealty.ca edimou@georgetownrealty.ca at Call Effie Dimou for all your real atneeds. at 905-456-1000 905-456-10 905-456-1 at estate 905-456-1000 Realty Services Inc. Brokerage Independently Owned & Operated *see Georgetown Volkswagen or georgetownvw.com for details. SO LD