Oakville Beaver, 30 May 2014, p. 7

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Debate over gas plant issue fires up meeting continued from p.1 Prior to the Liberals taking office in Ontario in 2003, the Progressive Conservative government approved an approximate 700-megawatt power plant on Winston Churchill Drive, which was "very close to homes," Flynn said. When Oakville was chosen for that particular plant, Flynn explained that's when "you decide if you're going to represent your constituents or if you're going to tow the party line. "That's when you're going to decide if any family members of yours are going to work on the application to put that plant in your community or if you're going to fight against even your own government," said Flynn, who left his position in the Ministry of Environment to oppose the plant. "We stood up against that and we stopped that as a community. It's one of the proudest moments of my political life and I'd do it again tomorrow." When Halton incumbent Ted Chudleigh made a rebuttal, the PC Party candidate accused Flynn of supporting the location of the most-recent power plant in 2009. "Kevin, you supported it in committee in 2009. You voted for it in 2009," Chudleigh charged. This drew an immediate response from Flynn. "Nonsense," he shouted repeatedly, while Chudleigh continued to speak. The argument elicited applause from the audience shortly before mediators intervened. The debate then turned to improving transportation and how to fund it. Halton candidate Susan Farrant from the Green Party said gridlock is a major issue in the region because "we've grown exponentially over the past five years." She argued dedicating taxes, "not moving money around," could improve the public transit system. "Getting from Toronto to Milton is not easy because if the trains aren't running on a weekend, you're out of luck. You have to come to Oakville and hope somebody will pick you up," said Farrant. Also vying for the Halton MPP seat is Nik Spohr from the NDP . He weighed in on the issue by lending party support for the electrification of the GO Transit train lines and expanding all-day, two-way GO train service. "This is a personal priority for our leader Andrea Horwath because she's been fighting to get two-way, all-day GO train service into her own riding of Hamilton Centre," said Spohr. To pay for transit, Spohr said the NDP is proposing a "modest" one per cent increase in corporate taxation at the general rate. "The corporate tax rate has shifted the burden onto you (taxpayers) for decades now. What we want to do is say, `Companies and corporations, you're going to benefit from this too. Let's make it work for everyone,'" said Spohr. Chudleigh said the Hwy. 401 expansion has to be "sped-up," noting the extension of GO service to Milton doesn't begin until 2021. Halton Liberal candidate Indira Naidoo-Harris said her party is "the only one that has built any real transit in 20 years." She noted the Liberals' budget over the next 10 years includes $29 million for transit and transportation infrastructure. "It's making sure people get home to their families, it's about keeping our environment safe and clean and it's about making sure that our businesses and economy flourish," said NaidooHarris. The one issue every candidate and party agreed on was to not introduce a land-transfer tax in Oakville. Absent from the meeting were Oakville riding candidates David Clement from the Libertarian Party and Silvio Ursomarzo from the Freedom Party, and Halton candidates Kal Ghory from the Libertarian Party and Gerry Marsh from the Family Coalition Party. Halton Region recently sent out a provincial election questionnaire to MPP candidates in the Oakville, Halton, Burlington and WellingtonHalton Hills ridings. 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