Achilles Mazda of Milton 1195 SteelesAve East, Milton ON L9T2X8 289-627-1800 or 1-866-620-3248 www.achillesmazda.ca • info@achillesmazda.ca Efficiency in motion is just the starting point. Mazda's SKYACTIVTECHNOLOGY takes it even further by making your drive better.With a lighter, stronger chassis, a smarter transmission for faster downshifts, and an engine re-engineered to help get the most power out of every last drop of fuel, we created a vehicle that responds to the driver to deliver an unsurpassed driving experience. Experience SKYACTIVTECHNOLOGY first hand. Reserve your test drive today. REFINANCING? PURCHASING? BOBWOODS, Broker (905) 877-1490 360 Guelph St., Georgetown Five Year Variable FSCO #10259 Division of 1490845 Ont. Ltd. 2.3% 5 Year Variable Prime minus .75% • 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 Thursday, October 22, 2015 Halton Hills' award-winning newspaper serving Acton & Georgetown 64 Pages 50 Cents (+HST) Kids, it's Pumpkin Day on Sunday Page 29 Visit us at www.theifp.ca facebook.com/Independent&FreePress Twitter: @IFP_11 Mobile: m.theifp.ca A GREEN LEGACY MPP Ted Arnott is promot- ing a special tree planting program for the 150th anniversary of Confedera- tion. See pg. 8 GOLDEN BOY! Georgetown cyclist Je'Land Syd- ney rode to gold and silver at the national championships. See pg. 36 Chong wins with 51% of the vote By Melanie Hennessey Special to The IFP Wellington-Halton Hills will remain Tory blue after incumbent MP Mi- chael Chong cruised to another victory in Monday night's federal election. The Conservative stronghold riding once again voiced its sup- port for the 43-year-old politician, giving him 51 per cent of the vote, or 32,482 ballots in favour. Liberal contender Don Trant came in sec- ond with 23,279 votes (36 per cent). Chong celebrated his win on Monday evening at Judy's Restau- rant in Brisbane alongside his fam- ily, campaign team and supporters, including Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott. "I want to thank the people of Wellington County and Halton Hills for supporting us through thick and thin through five election cam- paigns and five terms," he told the cheering crowd. "Obviously we're disappointed with the results nationally tonight, but here in the riding of Wellington- Halton Hills it looks like we've got over 50 per cent of the vote. That means the majority of people in this riding supported us. I will work my hardest to make sure the people of this riding have their voice heard loud and clear in Ottawa." Continued on page 3 Voter turnout in Wellington-Halton Hills: 71% Local residents turned out in full force for this week's election, with 63,997 of 89,653 registered elec- tors, or 71 per cent, making their way to the polls This is up slightly from the 2011 turnout of 67 per cent. The number of rejected ballots was 185. Wellington-Halton Hills Return- ing Officer Tom Gallagher reported that the polls were "exhaustively busy" on Monday, keeping the 650 local poll workers on their toes. "I can say for absolute certain that all the poll workers were busy and had pretty much a full day with not much of a break in between," he said. "High voter turnout can cause a high degree of stress, but they persevered through long lines and did a fantastic job." The local team wrapped up at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, and while it was a long day, Gallagher said it went very smoothly, with only a few minor "procedural hiccups" along the way. Here are the official results in Wellington-Halton Hills: • Chong: 32,482 (51%) • Trant: 23,279 (36%) • Gajerski-Cauley: 5,321 (8%) • Bouteiller: 2,547 (4%) • Anstey: 183 (0.3%) By Melanie Hennessey Special to The IFP Wellington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong celebrates his victory Monday night as he and wife Carrie are welcomed by a cheering crowd at Judy's Restaurant in Brisbane. Photo by Melanie Hennessey