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

6 Independent & Free Press,Thursday, March 24, 2011 OPINION May election? Barring a last minute acquiescence by the Steven Harper-led Conservatives to Jack Layton's NDP party, Canadians will head the polls again, likely in May. When Layton gave Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's federal budget the thumbs down Tuesday, it likely spelled the end of Harper's minority government, sparking the fourth federal election in the past seven years. Leaders of all three Opposition parties said the $7.7 billion in new measures announced by Flaherty weren't enough to warrant their support. Harper faces several votes this week that could trigger an election, including budget-related votes and a potential motion of so-called non-confidence on Friday. Undoubtedly, if an election is called, the Opposition is sure to pounce on the Conservatives' recent ethics violations and will likely charge the Tories are unfit to govern and are not deserving of another mandate be it minority or (perish the thought) majority. The Conservatives, in all likelihood, will try to steer the debate towards their economic record, pointing to the fact that while nations around the world struggled to keep their heads above water during the most vicious economic downturn in decades, Canada weathered the storm rather well. Polls indicate most Canadians have little appetite for an election-- and with a provincial election set for October, Ontarians are likely even less inclined to cast ballots-- and indications are little will change if there is an election. This budget, in which the Tories handed out goodies to a wide variety of areas-- but not enough according to Layton, is hardly worth waging an election over. No, this is simply a matter of political opportunism and the opposition parties should be forewarned of the axiom "be careful what you wish for." 905-873-0301 Publisher: Ken Nugent General manager: Steve Foreman (sforeman@independentfreepress.com) Retail advertising manager: Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@independentfreepress.com) Managing editor: John McGhie (jmcghie@independentfreepress.com) Distribution manager: Nancy Geissler (ngeissler@independentfreepress.com) Classifieds Kristie Pells (classified@independentfreepress.com) Accounting Rose Marie Gauthier Editorial Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@independentfreepress.com) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@independentfreepress.com) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@independentfreepress.com) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@independentfreepress.com) WEB POLL RESULTS Would you like to see more U.S.-style outlet malls come to Canada, specifically the Greater Toronto Area? Yes. It offers consumers more choice. (53%) No. It hurts existing businesses and malls. (42%) · Undecided (5%) Steve Nease Go to www.independentfreepress.com Letters to the editor Bureaucrats create non-existent problem Dear editor, Re: Provincial regulation forces bakery layoffs (March 15). It's so typical for government agencies to jump in where no problems exist. Miller's Bakery has been supplying baked goods to wholesale and retail customers for over 20 years and now their meat pies can no longer be sold to their wholesale customers but are still suitable to sell to retail customers. To suggest that by using cubed beef in the meat pies somehow makes the bakery a meat processor is akin to calling Phil Miller a farmer because he uses milk, butter and eggs in his baked goods. I understand that the government at all levels must ensure that we have a safe food supply but sometimes overzealous bureaucrats flex their muscles in the wrong places. Miller's Bakery has remained in business for years in our town because they sell a good product at a fair price and I'm sure they are frustrated by this sudden interest in their wholesale business. Small business is the backbone of the Canadian economy and at the end of the day the Millers just want to feed their family and put a roof over their heads like the rest of us. Ray Eckert, Georgetown Send arena $ to Japan Dear editor, We often read in your publication that residents consider Halton Hills to be a generous and compassionate place in which to live. By now I am sure most of us are aware of the devastation that is occurring in Japan. We are told that sustainable long term aid is difficult to achieve in any situation such as this and that it will take years for Japan and its people to recover. They will need the help of the whole world. It is not difficult to image a catastrophe of this nature happening here. Recently a $29 million budget was approved by our Town council to build three new arenas using borrowed funds on a debenture and raising property taxes three times to retire it over 10 years. For the most part, these facilities are not required as both the Ontario Minor Hockey Association and Hockey Canada have recently reported that minor hockey enrolment is declining in Canada and, if the council was listening, they would also know that by far the majority of residents oppose this expenditure. If one conceded that only one new arena be built in Acton by twinning the existing Acton arena, but leaving the planned tax levy in place we would have more than $23 million we could contribute to Japan and its people. Come on Halton Hills call your councillor and tell them you can't be this selfish in a time of need. Tell them we are a generous and caring community and willing to sacrifice these ice pads to do our part to help in this world crisis. Ken Key, Georgetown Gymfest a success Dear editor, The Halton Hills Gymnastics Centre (HHGC) would like to thank the Georgetown merchants and restaurants for their amazing support of food and raffle prizes for the club's recent Gymfest meet. Pulling an event together of this magnitude is no small undertaking and we would also like to thank the HHGC volunteers who worked so hard to make the event a tremendous success. we especially thank our two Meet Directors: Paula DaSilva and Susan Detmers for their extraordinary leadership. Jo-Anne Kallio, Georgetown Letters to the editor policy Letters must include an address and daytime telephone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Publication is not guaranteed. E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. The Independent & Free Press The Independent & Free Press is published Tuesday and Thursday and is one of several Metroland Media Group Ltd. community newspapers. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.