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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, MAY 24, 2018 7THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, MAY 24, 20186 By: Harry Rudolfs Jon Hurst wants to be the next MPP for Wellington- Halton Hills. He's taking an unpaid leave of absence from his long-time position as Town Councillor to run as a Liberal candidate for the provincial seat. Hurst has been a strong opponent to the Hidden Quarry project and says he will continue to do so if elected to Queen's Park. "All that truck traf- fic going through Acton? It's bad enough now. We see no willingness from the proponent to sit down and discuss with us truck routes and that sort of thing." On another local issue, Hurst thinks the school bus procurement process is flawed. "I was very upset and disappointed to hear about what happened to Tyler Transport," he said. "That's the unintended consequences when you make a decision and don't consult the community." A lifetime Acton resi- dent, Hurst says he has been working hard learn- ing to familiarize himself with Wellington county and its concerns as well. "Since I've been nomin- ated, I've been up north to Fergus and Elora five times to better understand their issues. It certainly is a diverse riding. The big issue in Wellington Coun- ty is protecting the water table. Nestle wants to pump a substantial amount of water out of their new well west of Elora." He was also dismayed to hear PC leader Doug Ford's comments about opening up the Greenbelt to development (which were quickly reversed). "I don't think Ford under- stands what a Greenbelt is or how it works. He said it's just a bunch of farm- ers' fields. It is a bunch of farmers' fields, but it's much more than that, and it's connected to wet lands and rivers and eco- systems." A bright spot on the Liberal platform is the promise to extend all-day two-way GO Train ser- vice between Toronto and Kitchener by 2024. "The people of Acton have benefited from having a GO Train stop in Acton," said Hurst. "The challen- ges will be upgrading the tracks and infrastructure." High hydro rates are a concern to many voters, but Hurst thinks that the Wynne government has done much to mitigate those costs. "When the Liberals came to power the infrastructure was in bad shape, and they had to invest something like $70 billion. Since then, we haven't had any brown outs, and the hydro bills that customers are receiving today have been reduced by 25 per cent. Above that, low income families can apply for fur- ther reductions of up to 40 to 50 per cent." Hurst acknowledged that remortgaging the hy- dro debt from a 20 year to 30 year term, pushes more of the debt onto a future generation. "It was a ne- cessity to get the overall hydro bill down for every- one." Another contentious topic is the sex educa- tion curriculum in schools that has come under fire from some parents. Hurst offered his thoughts on this. "I know Doug Ford has said the Conserva- tives would remove and revamp the curriculum. And I realize that some parents think their children are learning too much at a young age. But I've seen kids on devices that are as young as two years of age," he said. "Because of their early connection to social media, I think it's important that the kids should learn about all the negative things that they should be aware of. After all, it's 2018. Hurst also commented on the move to a $15 minimum wage by next January. "People make adjustments," he said. "Raising the minimum wage was an effort by the government to try to make sure that people were earning a livable wage. A substantial number of people and families de- pend on minimum wage jobs as their main source of income. I think you have more loyalty from an employee when they feel they are valued and you'd probably have less turnover." Hurst was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate at a meeting in Rockwood on April 30. He thinks his wide experience as a volunteer and town polit- ician will serve him well at Queen's Park. "I've proven I will fight for people and stand up for them. Being an MPP is basically doing the same thing as I've been doing on a bigger scale. It's all about helping others--and there's more joy in that than anything else." Ontario Liberal Party Candidate: Jon Hurst