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Thursday, July 2, 2015 - The IFP - H alton H ills - w w w .theifp.ca Page 7 Furnace Air Conditioning Gaslines Boilers Water Heaters Radiant Heating 905-877-3100 proud local dealer of Canadian made products .ca • your window & door professionals • 341 Guelph St., Unit 3 Georgetown 905.873.0236 www.buy-wise.ca info@buy-wise.ca • awarded readers choice 24 times • Visit our showroom • Truck Accessories • Upholstery • Heavy Equipment Glass •Window Tinting 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown 905-873-1655 We handle all insurance work. COMMENT The way we were This weekend's weather will be perfect for picnics alongside the Credit River, just as this unidentified family did one fine summer day in 1908. Text courtesy of Heritage Halton Hills; photo courtesy of Esquesing Historical Society It's picnic time! The Caruso family recently acquired a new guest at its backyard feeder. "Tillie" the wild turkey showed up in our backyard (Lyons Court in Georgetown) on Sunday, May 24, and has been visiting daily ever since. 'Very cool!' says photographer Patti Caruso. Have a photo you want to share? Email jpg with all the details to cgamble@theifp.ca A NEW FRIEND OF THE FAMILY From our readers Let's plan now for Canada's 150th birthday in 2017 July 1, 1867 witnessed the birth of the most just, most tolerant, most diverse, most compassionate, and most picturesque country in the world (but to be fair, I won't make the claim that we have the best year- round weather!). In 2017, just two years away, Canadi- ans will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation. I was glad to attend a special meeting of the Halton Hills Cultural Roundtable group at the Red Door Gallery in George- town on May 21. The Cultural Roundtable members are already beginning to make plans for a memorable community birthday bash for our country's sesquicentennial. Wellington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong had also been invited. He gave an interesting presentation about the federal programs which have been launched to support communi- ty celebration projects in 2017. He reminded all of us that not only will Canada be celebrating 150 years in 2017, but the founding prov- inces will be celebrating 150 years as well, as part of a united Canada. Listening to this, in my mind I asked myself: "What is the Province of Ontario planning to do, to celebrate the 150th an- niversary of its' existence?" What could the Province do? I immediately remembered the County of Wellington's Green Legacy program, which was launched in 2004 to coincide with the County's 150th anniversary. Through Green Legacy, the County pro- moted and organized volunteer commu- nity activities that planted 150,000 trees that same year. Growing into an annual effort, Green Legacy has become the largest municipal tree planting program in North America. It has led to the planting of over 1.8 million trees in just over 10 years. Why couldn't Ontario follow the lead of the County of Wellington, take Green Leg- acy province-wide, with the goal of plant- ing 150 million trees? I did some research, and discovered that the Ministry of Natural Resources doesn't seem to track or publicly report cumulative tree planting activities in On- tario. They should. But as recently as seven years ago, ap- parently 92 million trees were planted in one year as part of the reforestation renewal pro- cess. Unfortunately, that num- ber has diminished to nearly 50 million trees as of 2011/12, the most recent year for which numbers are available. In addition, a group called Forests Ontario currently has planted 22 million trees since 2003, and has goal of reaching 50 million trees by 2025. My suggestion would rep- resent a dramatic increase in these efforts. I believe it can be done, but we would need leadership of the Minis- ter of Natural Resources and Forestry and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. On June 25, I spoke to Wellington County Council to thank them for their vision and leadership, and offer to work with them to urge the Government to take Green Legacy province-wide. That would be a 150th anniversary cele- bration for the ages, as well as a lasting gift to future generations of Ontarians. ***** Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Ar- nott welcomes your comments. He can be reached at 1-800-265-2366. His website address is www.tedarnottmpp.com. TED ARNOTT