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Who are the candidates in HaltonBurlingtoni Wednesday September 1175 Gary Dawkins PC Gary Dawkins Immediately strikes you as the sort of guy who doesnt Jump on band wagons Neither is he the type who takes on without really considering the seeking advice and then and only then taking action So when the thought first occurred to him to take over where Jim Snow had left off when the former Hal ion MPP decided to seek reelection In the new riding Dawkins did not jump immediately Into the thick of things tics in there now though with both feet and since he won the PC nomination for Ha lion Burlington In Milton early In the summer those feet have barely stopped moving has the most to lose In this campaign despite the Tact he probably has the most going for him in terms of personnel strategy and support from the provincial headquarters But to take over where your predecessor left when that predecessor happened to be of the calibre of Snow demandsalot of retracing of footsteps campaign is taking Its toll the for mer public school principal admits There are times It catches up with you but he nevertheless has been thriving on all the hoopla that goes along with a provincial election Ills campaign therefore has been aimed largely at Introducing the new PC candidate for alto Burlington to as many voters In the new riding as Is humanly possible par ticularly to Progressive Conservative loyalists who may not have been completely aware of capabilities and per sonality Dawkins capabilities arc well recognized in the Acton area where Dawkins Is a respected highly Involved member of the community His Involvement encompasses service club work the Canadian Militia with the Lome Scots Acton Legion Knox Presbyterian Church the Masonic Lodge plus a lifetang connection with the Acton Although a PC stalwart had been working In the background prior to his- decision to enter the campaign this year Hes been pleased with the response that he has been getting during his campaign which because of his early nomination has extended over two months instead of the bare 35day campaign I can appreciate now he jokingly commented the amount of effort any federal candidate has to put into his cam paign which is a lot longer than this gruelling Being a candidate for the Incumbent party doesnt mean that Dawkins is willing to go along totally with what has been set out in prior government policies particularly when it comes to education The PC candidate has very close ties with that area of concern in this provincial election through over a dozen years of prlnclpalships In area schools He would like to sec some changes personal commitment brought about in the educational hierarchy but at the county level where he has been providing constant input for a number of years through executive positions with the Principals Advisory Committee the Principals Association the Professional Development Committee and presently the StaffBoard Committee on which he represents the principals of The public teachers and principals must hove more influence at the county board level In order to provide the type or education that suits the needs of the mobile society of today while still maintaining high personal standards Other areas of provincial government policies In which he sees room for change It is not above criticism No government of any consequence can be la the increasing government bureaucracy it must be reduced and the split between government and people we must come back to the people with more emphasis on Individual rights One of strongest stands Is on compensation to landowners who properties have become part of such designated con trolled development areas as prime acquisition areas of conservation authorities or the Niagara Escarpment Commissions area of responsibility As a new member I would immediately begin to press for fair compensation for people being affected by largescale plans such as the Niagara Escarpment Com mission scheme Those schemes are certainly valuable to the proper development Ontarios en vironment but unless we arc prepared to provide a form of fair compensation for those people who have properly within those areas we will be In effect Infringing upon the rights of those landowners He admits that the how when and how much In providing proper compensation still Is a problem that has to be closely perhaps using examples set in the Ottawa area and in Great Britain We just cant jump into the whole thing without proper discussions of the problem with the people Involved That is certainly one of my priorities He is fully prepared to begin to push those priorities If elected He plans to devote his full time to the Job of prlncial representative for the new riding and even at that expects to be running a few hours short per day during his Initial venture into the business of being an Once youre an MPP you have to pace properly so that ycucan do the job est you can You could probably work at it hours a day and I expect that may be necessary during the first weeks En the job but to do that constantly you will not be a good MPP You therefore ho veto approach it with a proper organized method of handling the responsibility One of his prime concerns as an would be to provide better communications between constituents and representative I Intend to develop myself as a total representative of the people Im represen ting which I admit isnt going to be easy Its important that we obtain the In terest and Involvement of the silent majority In the workings of government Looking ahead to oclock September IS when finally close and the tabulation of votes begins Gary predicted his strongest support would come from the Acton Im receiving excellent response from Acton because that is my established area Im not getting any surprises at all In Acton The area of his major push during the final all important week of Campaign75 Is the Georgetown area where Dawkins is going to be spending a fair amount of time door knocking His aim as it has been all along will bo personal contact I am not a mirror Image of existing PC policies Dawkins noted in his chief campaign brochure This Is a very personal cannot be otherwise I welcome this challenge as the most important of my career one which will no doubt be very demanding but one which will be extremely satisfying That brochure came out early In the four- wcckold campaign After many late nights early mornings long miles numerous handshakes endless doors to be knocked hes tired but still totally committed to that early goal Bill Johnson NDP Win lose or draw Bill Johnson the New Democratic Party hopeful In is going to enjoy himself in this election Thanks to his ability to live up to his of Wicked Willie Campaign on the Burlington front is proving to be full of lite and personal contact Johnson has been the total mainstay behind his campaign He Is frequently on his own as he makes the rounds of main streets doorsteps and candidate meetings He has been handling perhaps the heaviest In dividual schedule or the three candidates while still somehow managing to fill Job responsibilities Yet through it all he admits Im having the time of my life with people hearing their beefs and trying to do something about them is not an unfamiliar role for Johnson It comes to him naturally as he has been perhaps one of the most fervent campaigners In this area for many years The campaign he had been involved with prior to his September IB runforthemoncy has been on he environmental battlefield Finish a shift at Domtar here in Georgetown drive miles to Hope Township to deliver a brief against rural dumping to environment minister BUI Newman hop back In the car and return to Georgetown just in time to go back to work Thats the kind of campaign Johnson Is used to being involved In So a concerted 33day provincial election schedule of meeting and talking with people right here on his doorstep offers a nice although hectic change His enthusiasm Is not bard to catch An early morning interview or a weekend chat at the door hes ready willing and eager to express his opinion The response from the people to that kind of enthusiasm has been goad particularly In the new part of Burlington that has been riding That area largely made up of young and relatively new residents took to Johnsons kind of crusading drive Residents there ended up by asking him as long as he was there to help them organize a citizens group to represent their area Hehaawnple experience in that field as hes the president of the Ratepayers Association as well as chairman of GUARD Group United Against Rural Dumping Some people thought when I stood for the nomination What does Bill know about besides garbage Well for a few examples Ive been forever bugging Milton council about various problems and through our efforts we managed to get Bell Telephone to end the long distance charges between our SoImnotjustlntcrestcdin garbage It was however his experience In dealing with the provincial government on various environmental problems that made him decide to finally take the major step into provincial politics 1 had been banging my head against the wall battling with the ministry and Its hirllngs I finally decided It was time to take my own steps If youre going to change things youve got to change things first at Queens Park BUI Johnson In the normally quiet halls and chambers of Queens Park promises to be Showmanship and policies may stir up Queen s Park quite a change but dont expect that change to spread to Wicked Willie I dont want a bunch of PR men from the Premiers office making me into something Im not He instead pledges to continue to be the vocal opponent of anything the public deems unwarranted or unjustified It didnt hurt Morty and it didnt hurt Wacky Bennett Without them politics are dead and thats why theres such towards politics among the public Perhaps I con stir things up with little bit of showmanship along with practical or policies It certainly wouldnt hurt Johnson looks to party leader Stephen Lewis as being the best leader for Ontario at the present lime Hes very open and sympathetic to people and what they think He knows what poverty Is like he knows what sickness is like He doesnt treat people as statistics The Tories keep telling you how good youve got it but you know damn well you havent got It so good when youre paying ycar mortgages or putting out MOO per month before you are even able to begin thinking about putting bread on the table Humanizing Is a word that Johnson uses frequently particularly when talking about future programs We want to bring grass root In volvement back into regionalism In order to make Ontario a better place for human beings not just for experts and inhuman statistics Johnson Is drawing some strong support from teachers In north for his strong stand against BUI 100 which the provincial government recently passed to prohibit teachers from going on a worktorute campaign to bring about changes If teachers have to strike or are put in a position to strike to get smaller classes so they con give more specialized attention to their students Is that a bad thing Obviously something Is wrong in the educational system when the educators are forced Into such strong actions as considering strikes He also raps BUI lOOs position that teachers and principles must be considered on opposing sides or the negotiating fence One of the solutions to tho problem he notes Is to provide better local represen tation on school boards That same increased responsiveness to the people should also be applied to other provincial government bodies as conservation authorities and the Niagara Escarpment Commission he I want to sec the environment protected and for that reason It distresses me to see these various authorities padded with people who have little or no concern for the en vironment from the Bruce Trail Association and Pollution Probe In Georgetown Invited to sit on these com missions Those people have shown they are dedicated to conservation and have proven their abilities Johnson is also drawing support from his fellow environmentalists for his stand against the present environmental policies of the government which he terms bandaid because of their ability to only temporarily solve the problem You hove to attack the source If you have an epidemic you dont just dig more graves for the corpses You look for the source of the epidemic The source of the solid waste Is the nonreturnable container Whether or not I get to Queens Park as representative for Halton Burlington I shall continue to advocate that solid waste management be taken from the jurisdiction of the ministry of the environment and placed Under the ministry of energy mines and resources The waste problem and the energy crisis go hand in hand Win lose or draw BUI Wicked Willie Johnson is getting his points across and in doing to Is providing the spark of excitement needed for a lively Interesting election Few are ruling out the possibility that that spark could be fanned Into a strong fire beneath the platforms of the two other par- tics Julian Reed L In the days when charisma and election campaigns went hand in hand Julian Reed would have been a shooin Great looks A nextdoorneighbour kind of personality A look-you-in-the-eye-and-tell- attitude The man whose attempting to become the first Liberal candidate to ever represent North Halton in Queen Park comes across with super charisma But those days of personality politics are gone and Julian Reed is now ready to come across with what people want today stands on solid current issues and even some opinions on issues that havent even come up elsewhere In Campaign The emphasis In Reeds personal cam paign as he tredi the gruelling road of door- knocking and handshaking throughout the riding has been Think before you vote Consider the circumstances and the problems Then vote He adds that anyone who thinks carefully about the present situation In housingwise local govern cast his vote against the PC government and Instead for Julian Reed Reed a card currying member one year only of the PC party explained that he did a lot of thinking prior to becoming a Liberal candidate Im not a rebel nor am I a radical I attempted first to bring about the changes that I and others like myself felt should take place by working within the system But I found out it didnt work What It boils down to is that Im a Liberal by choice not by birth 1 became a liberal and a candidate because I thought very carefully about alternatives Reeds choice was made that much easier when the provincial government decided to close the Public School Hes a Liberal by choice not by birth whereby a certain shrewd touch of planning Reedhas set up his campaign headquarters Reed became spokesman for the upset residents who bottled hard and long to try to get the doors of the school open again During a meeting with Premier Bill Davis last fall to discuss the schools closure Reed confronted the PC leader I tried to tell him that every situation every person is different and should be treated that way The problems of Norval are totally different from those of Parry Sound problems of Parry Sound are totally different from those of Toronto They all deserve to be examined as separate Instances Instead of simply with a blanket policy Davis wouldnt change his stand Reed did Through his Involvement with a research project on energy for Murray Gaunt Liberal MPPfor HuronBruce Reed got a taste of the kind of leadership Liberal leader Robert Nixon packs Reed was Impressed One of the things I was most Impressed with was the open door approach he takes In his caucus debates Theres no stigma attached to disagreeing with the leader When youre In caucus you dont have to accept the laid down policy Its really government by debate Since his acclamation as Liberal can didatc for Burlington three weeks ago has been constantly on the go Its been a new situation for a man used to han dling all possible situations A farm or musician professional actor a familiar face in TV commercials and ad vertisements about the only thing that has remained constant has been his connection with north Halton and more particularly the people of The Reed family has lived in Nerval since 1B68 With the exception of four years during which he moved to Montreal Julian has spent his entire life in the small community by the Credit River He me Ontario Agricultural College In graduated In 1996 with an associate diploma In agriculture He then went into the livestock feed business After 10 years of that he decided to study music and from there jumped Into performing on the stage as an actor That In urn led into he advertising medium where he has become a familiar although never Identified face selling everything from cigarettes to gum But he notes thahlhe days when Julian Reed could be seen In a national magazine shivering In his jockey shorts pointing out the difference between a short and long cigarette are going to come to on end if he joins slightly more dignified ranks of an MPP In Queens Park Being an MPP is definitely a fulltime job Serving a riding especially at this particular time is a tremendous respon- that has to be handled in a fulltime professional manner Weve got to cut Ihe fat the bureaucracy and clear the air finally at Queens Pork Thats what people should expect of then- elected representative An area on which Reed hopes to con centrate his efforts Is Ontarios energy problems Its a field la which he has some firsthand knowledge having built his own small hydro generating plant in that provides an electrical supply for his own home Ontario Hydro is one of hlsmajor targets Ontario Hydro refuses to consider generating power at the point of use Instead hey have these tremendous plans to trunk the power from a minimum of generating points all over creation using these ex tremely expensive hydro corridors If smaller hydro generating plants located throughout the province had not been close out over the last years thanks to Ontario Hydro the necessity and cost for a major station like Lake view would really be questionable Last year he added was the first year that Hydro hadnt closed out any small stations In years The emphasis Instead of centering on the development of three or four large nuclear stations should be to discover alternative sources of power such as solar energy It will be entirely to our advantage to come up with diverse sources of energy which do not use nonrenewable resources to provide It The educational system of Ontario has also raised Reeds Ire Ten years ago explained Reed the educational system of Ontario could have been termed elitist as only percent of high school graduates were able to go on to university But the pendulum has swung other way now to the point where percent go on to higher education Graduates In those worked hard to get into university The reward was that they came out of university with a diploma that meant something That system may bo elitist but why should we deprive that percent of students who are truly interested in being a scholar from gaining a complete and meaningful education No one knows what his level of ac complishment Is unless the carrot of achievement is hung out In front of them September IB according to Julian will sec some Interesting local voting trends particularly In the Acton area Originally I thought we should write it off considering thats Dawkins home town But we now feel confident that well not only hold our own there but expect to make Important gains Theres little doubt in anyone mind that the Liberals with Reed leading the way are going to give this PC stronghold Its toughest test In many a year