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dentistoakville.com 905-842-6030 353 IROQUOISSHOREDRIVE,OAKVILLE BACK TO SCHOOL SALE (plus tax)A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 49 No. 111 USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011 SNA NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR 2010 ONTARIOS TOP NEWSPAPER - 2005-2008 Tavares signs Sports The Chief's all wet ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER FOR A GOOD CAUSE: Halton Regional Police Chief Gary Crowell volunteered to be a target at the dunk tank (or dunk shower) at the Annual United Way Barbecue for Haltonal Region employees on Wednesday afternoon. By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Despite its reputation for health, there is poverty in Halton Region and a number of groups have joined forces to spread the word to the community. With the provincial election coming up in a few weeks, the group will be challenging candidates on poverty issues and is asking residents to vote for a poverty-free Ontario. On Thursday, Sept. 15, the Interfaith Council of Halton, Voices for Change, Halton and the Halton Poverty Roundtable held a Poverty Free Ontario discussion at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, as similar roundtable discus- sions were taking place in communities across Ontario. The province-wide Poverty Free Ontario initiative was organized by Social Planning Network of Ontario in part- nership with the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition. At the Oakville event, several people spoke about their own experiences with ongoing poverty. The pastor of the church, Daniel Phannenhour, also made a presentation, urging people to think about poverty in the provincial election, saying the issue does not get the attention it deserves in society. People of faith care about poverty because we share a conviction of the world, in which we live, that it is created good, he said. Creation is good. The goodness of creation and all its blessings, including that of our human commu- nity, reflects the goodness of the creator. However, when the goodness of creation is denied to certain people through the barrier of poverty, people of faith are compelled to respond. He said poverty could be considered as a noble and virtu- ous condition; however, when stories of poverty are told, they reveal the most marginalized people in society, such as By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The environment and how it can be made better were the main topics discussed, Wednesday night, during the Halton all-candidates meeting held at the St. Volodymyr Cultural Centre. The 50 residents who attended the meeting, which was hosted by the Halton Environmental Network, BurlingtonGreen, Oakvillegreen and Miltongreen, heard a wide array of opinions as candidates were asked about such things as their feelings about alter- native forms of energy and its role in the future. Family Coalition candidate Tony Rodrigues got the panel off to a unique start stating he does not believe in climate change, but feels the severe weather irregularities around the globe are due to a large dam in China is tilting the earth off its axis. NDP candidate Nik Spohr said the Conservatives are content to allow the market alone to deter- mine the future of green energy in Ontario. He singled out the Wolf Island wind farm for special mention stat- ing it was a success that needed to be imitated because municipali- ties, communities and individuals were allowed to co-own their ener- gy as opposed to the Province and developers holding sole control. Halton incumbent MPP Ted Environment issues top green debate See Debaters page 5 See Poverty page 3 Poverty Free Ontario challenges candidates