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6 Independent & Free Press,Thursday, April 21, 2011 OPINION It's up to you The federal election will be heading into the home stretch next Monday with only a week left for voters to make up their mind. We sincerely hope that voters in the Wellington-Halton Hills riding have done their level best to make themselves aware of what each of the five candidates have to offer. There have a been several all-candidates meetings held both in Halton Hills and Wellington County (unfortunately neither NDP candidate Anastasia Zavarella nor Christian Heritage Party hopeful Jeffrey Streutker have attended any of those gettogethers.) Tory incumbent Michael Chong, Liberal challenger Barry Peters and Green Party veteran candidate Brent Bouteiller have let voters know where they, and their party, stand on the issues. They have worked hard to get their party's message across. In the last federal election a record low percentage of eligible voters--58.8-- chose to exercise their right to cast a ballot. In Halton Hills 63 per cent of eligible voters turned out. At first glance, it looks positive that this riding was above the national average, however, the 2008 percentage was actually 8 per cent lower than in 2006 when voter turnout here was 71 per cent. Is this a trend towards lower voter turnout? We certainly hope not. It is incumbent upon every eligible voter to educate themselves about the candidates and to get out and vote. As a voter you control the destiny of this riding and this country. You determine who will form policy in Ottawa. It is up to you to make a difference. Sift through the candidates' rhetoric, study their promises and pledges and make an informed decision. You determine the government you get. 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 Overall, who do you think faired the best in the two federal leadership debates? 1. Harper (53%) 2. Ignatieff (22%) 3. Duceppe (4%) Steve Nease 4. Layton (21%) Go to www.independentfreepress.com Letters to the editor Canada paying for Liberal errors Dear editor, Re: Liberals carefully managed finances (April 19 letter)-- ha! If people lived through the Trudeau years they will know of what I speak. Keith (The Rainmaker) Davies handled PET from Beatlemania morphing into Trudeaumania, from Margaret Sinclair to bell bottom pants and sports cars. Add the pirouette behind the Queen and fuddle-duddle in the house and you had what was supposed to be the Pied Piper who was going to take us all to Utopia and Nirvana. The Liberals gave money to the social system and opened the doors for immigration, hence why they still dominate the Italian vote in Toronto. People lay on the beaches of Florida (and still do) while collecting unemployment insurance and welfare back in Canada. Many of the drugs were purchased with welfare money in the late 60's and early 70's. Someone someday has to pay the cost. We're paying it today! Next comes Justin Trudeau. Beware! John R. McLellan, Georgetown Tory lies `obvious' Dear editor, Response to Terry Brown's April 19 letter (Tories' foes sought election) regarding who caused the election: Terry Brown should get his facts right instead of simply repeating the usual misinformation and spin spewed out by the Tories and Mr. Harper, a questionable behaviour consistent for the Tories not only during this campaign but also when they formed the government. Mr. Brown states erroneously that the opposition parties declared that they would not support the budget even before it was released. The facts are that many key planks were leaked prior to the budget reading in the House of Commons. Secondly, all the opposition parties had been studying the budget in lock-up for hours prior to and during its reading. Although they made their position known before Mr. Flaherty had completed his reading of the budget, the opposition had fully digested its contents and delivered their opinions from well-informed positions. It's high time that readers remove their blinkers and start to see the Tory falsehoods that are all too obviously found between the lines. Dan Poirier, Acton Modern robber barons Dear editor, In the beginning of the 20th Century the railway operators were referred to as the robber barons as they were overcharging on their freight charges. Now in the 21st Century we have the modern robber barons-- the oil companies. Each day I look out my back window, which overlooks a service station, at the price of gasoline which raises and lowers without any rationalization. A barrel of crude goes up a $1 and the price of gas goes up five cents. A barrel of crude goes down a $1 and the price of gas goes down one cent. Since we are an oil exporter why does the price go up when there are problems in Egypt or Libya? The high price of gas causes food and everything else to increase and in the current climate of recession this is not good. Ross Webster, 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.