THE NEW TANNER EDITORIAL Distributed to every home in Acton and area as well as adjoining communities. 373 Queen Street East, Unit 1 Acton, Ontario L7J 2N2 email: thenewtanner@on.aibn.com Mike OLeary Angela Tyler Rebecca Ring Publisher Editorial Ted Tyler Hartley Coles Editorial Contributors Advertising and Circulation Composing Marie Shadbolt Bruce Cargill The New Tanner By Angela Tyler with Hartley Coles (519) 853-0051 Fax: (519) 853-0052 Every effort will be made to see advertising copy, neatly presented, is correctly printed. The publisher assumes no fi nancial responsibility for typographical errors or omissions in advertising, but will gladly reprint without charge that part of an advertisement in which an error may occur provided a claim is made within fi ve days of publication. All articles, advertisements and graphic artwork appearing in The New Tanner is copyrighted. Any usage, reproduction or publication of these items, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the publisher of The New Tanner is a copyright infringement and subject to legal action. With the new building housing exhibits and the venue for Miss Acton Fall Fair pageant, other entertainment and the annual baby show, one could expect the 94th edition of the Acton Fall Fair to be one of the best little fairs in Ontario. And it was. Once again there were record gates, a tantalizing midway and the usual attractions such as tractor pulls, the presence of not one but three Elvis impersonators from the Collingwood Elvis Festival as well as the usual features which are enjoyed by so many people. Weatherwise, the fair could have been better served, Friday night was cold and rainy but by Saturday it had cleared up and the sun was poking through the clouds in intervals. Sunday was warmer and Old Sol made it almost a perfect day for a fall fair. One of the highlights in the new building had to be the dis- play of homecrafts, childrens schoolwork and the fascinating exhibit of quilts, which garnered much admiration from fair goers. It takes a lot of work to organize a three day event. President Dale Hewitt and members of the Acton Agricultural Society are to be congratulated for again pulling off not only the social event of the year but doing it under less than ideal circumstances. Another fi ne fair Arnotts on the Lost manufacturing jobs to offshore sites have become an election issue but for Wellington-Halton Hills Conservative candidate it has been an issue for years. Hes never been a Johnny-Come Lately on job losses, hammering at the pro- vincial government for years about the necessity to keep these jobs in Ontario. Its estimated that Ontario lost more than 130,000 good pay- ing manufacturing jobs in the last two years. Arnott has been asking for action on the issue with very little response over the same time and prior to that. It has been a particular issue for Arnott since he represented Waterloo-Wellington in the Legislature where many of the job losses occurred. In the spring of 2005, he tabled a Private Members resolution calling for the all-party fi nance commit- tee to hold hearings and provide an action plan on the loss of manufacturing jobs. His resolution was passed with support from all three parties in the Legislature last fall. During its pre-budget deliberations the fi nance committee also endorsed Arnott initiative. Despite the support no hearings were held, suggesting the Liberal government did not hold economic development as a high priority. They, in turn, point to the creation of another 160,000 jobs as proof they do care but how many are of the calibre of jobs that have been lost. Arnott believes, correctly we think, that there is a direct link between economic growth and government revenues. Without a strong and growing economy revenues to the Province will stagnate or fall in the coming years, meaning theres fewer resources to pay for health care, schools and other government services and programs we take for granted. Hes right, of course. Job losses should be an election issue. Construction causing me havoc I told my mom I have had enough. That was it. I was moving back home to my parents house. I thought moving to the other side of town would be great. How- ever, in retrospect it is becoming a disaster. I had enough of com- muting. I had enough of traffi c and basically, I have had enough. No, the Dude and I are fi ne; I had just had enough of the construction. My folks had it easy living on the east side of town which seemed hours away from construction. I, too, had enough of the bumps and ruts in Main Street. I had bounced enough over them in my Jeep and when I drive a school bus. Sometimes, no matter how slow you went, it seemed the passengers almost hit the ceiling over those bumps. I was excited about the Main Street construction. That was until the construction started. It had thrown a total loop into my drive to and from our new home. When we moved I had a lot of the neighbours ask, and sometimes tell me, how great it was living on this side of townthe west side. Being it only a few kilometers difference, I didnt expect a lot. After all, it was still Acton. And lets face itActon is pretty small even with the new housing developments. I am pretty happy in our new home. It feels like home to me. And, yes, it was a nice area to live. That was when it happened. It, was the construction that started just after we moved in. Maybe to some it doesnt seem like much yet this construction is caus- ing havoc in my daily regime. After we moved, someone men- tioned the road where we live can be busy. At that time I didnt really notice heavy traffi c. Moving from a cul-de-sac we did notice an obvi- ous traffi c increase, however, it was expected. Then when construction started the street became the Acton equivalent of Highway 401. It was bad enough going home at the end of the day before construc- tion. I often wondered where on earth the Acton traffi c came from. Why did it take me almost a half an hour to get home and through the Mill Street crunch? Where did all the people come from? It couldnt just be from the new houses that were on the east end of town be- cause the traffi c tie up seems to be on the main drag. When construction started, I had to get creative. Soon, getting home comprised of a plotted out plan, street by street depending on traffi c, traffi c lights, and of course the con- struction crews. Deeking around to Church Street didnt help. Every- one else was doing that as well. The traffi c was clogged up waiting for a bulldozer to dump gravel. Soon it was almost easier and quicker to go out to the country and back into town then to wait through the construction. One has to feel sym- pathetic for the construction crews dealing with everything and the heat this summer, yet sympathy for them wasnt helping my angst. Even at 6 a.m., I have to wait to back out of our driveway. I cant count the number of tractor-trailer type trucks that drive by at lunch time there are so many. Ive even seen farm tractors drive by, long before the Fall Fair. I suppose it will be all worth it in the end but I am really look- ing forward to not seeing Road Closed signs. HARVEST SEASON: A tip lead to the discovery of a marajuana grow in a fi eld outside of Acton which brought the police out in force, including a military style helicopter, to gather it up.