The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 15THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 201814 PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTRE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018 PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT, PART A ROAD RESURFACING WARD 1, ACTON The Town of Halton Hills is planning to perform improvements to the following streets starting in the spring of 2018: Street Road Span Type of Work Jeffrey Avenue Elizabeth Drive to Elmore Drive Road Resurfacing Nelson Court Tyler Avenue to End Road Resurfacing School Lane Main Street North to End Road Reconstruction You are invited to attend a Public Information Centre to learn about the planned construction and discuss any concerns you may have with representatives from the Town of Halton Hills. This Public Information Centre will be an informal meeting and you are invited to drop in at your convenience between the noted hours. The Public Information Centre is scheduled for: DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 2018 TIME: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PLACE: Halton Hills Public Library - Acton Branch Acton Library Meeting Room 17 River Street Acton ON L7J 1C2 Please advise the contact below as soon as possible, if you may have an accessibility or accommodation requirement at the Public Information Centre. If you are unable to attend this Public Information Centre and wish to obtain more information or provide written comments, please contact: Mrs. Teri Hoey, C.E.T. Supervisor of Construction Tel: 905-873-2601 ext. 2309 Fax: 905-873-8192 Email: terih@haltonhills.ca By: Vivien Fleisher Halton Hills Cham- ber of Commerce chair Melanie Frazer kicked off what was billed as their first "Politics Un- plugged" event at the North Halton Golf Club on January 18. Aimed at business owners, the Chamber wanted to know what was keeping owners up at night and in a panel discussion using a ques- tion and answer format, two familiar faces from Wellington-Halton Hills, MP Michael Chong, and MPP Ted Arnott, fielded over two dozen ques- tions from an audience of about 50 people. The event was not meant to be political accord- ing to Chamber general manager Kathleen Dills. Neither speaker made an opening statement, and although you can't keep a good politician down, they stuck to the product- ive goals of the evening. T h e f i r s t q u e s t i o n a s k e d w a s h o w h a s the business landscape c h a n g e d i n H a l t o n ? Chong responded that Toronto was no longer far away and the ma- jor growth the town has experienced has made congestion a major chal- lenge. Arnott reflected that in his early years in office, Canada was in a deep recession well into the mid-1990's, which eased off but resurfaced in 2009. He fel t that technology and auto- mation have changed the scene profoundly, but growth remained the number one challenge as well. Conversation inevit- ably turned to a handful of hot button topics. First and foremost was the minimum wage Bill 148. The topic led to Chong's repeated calls for major tax reform in Ontario, while Ar- nott denounced Premier Wynne's too-much-too- soon "left wing agenda" which he flatly stated was a bid to attract NDP voters ahead of th i s year's election. He hint- ed that if the PC's win in June, they'll look at phasing in the remain- ing one-dollar hike over four years. Amazon's shortlisting of Toronto for their next location was also a hot topic, with Chong con- vinced Ontario's high co rpora te t ax was a detriment. But the an- nouncement was fresh, and optimism was high in the room regardless. Arnott said jobs of the future are in high tech, and Halton Hills is right in that corridor. Rural internet access was also high on the list. Chong dispelled the idea that it was largely a "northern issue", say- ing it's the equivalent of the telephone today, and should have been treat- ed as such, an "essential utility" in the new econ- omy. Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce hosts first 'Politics Unplugged' event 10th annual free skate Families and community members enjoyed the 10th Annual Free Family Skating Event last Sunday afternoon hosted by Ted and Lisa Arnott at the Acton Arena. - Les Schmidt photos