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The Oakville Beaver, Friday S eptem ber 19, 2003 - 3 Quality education is pillar of society Looking at the broad pic ture, the most pressing issue in Oakville and across Ontario is the need for change. A change in govern ment and a renewed trust in our public institutions these hopes are expressed to me repeatedly by Oakville residents. Also on the voters' wish list are clean, safe com munities, economic growth and health care protecting everyone, not just a privi leged few. But as a parent and as someone who has been involved with the Halton C hildren's Aid Society, worked with Big Brothers and coached minor sports, I believe the most pressing issue is the return to educa tional standards that assure the future well-being of our children. Anyone who once took pride in Ontario's education al system must have viewed with a Heavy heart the news paper articles the day after this school year started. OvercYowded classrooms, disillusioned teachers, frus trated parents - this was the scenario in story after story. Quality education is a pil lar of our society, yet it has been allowed to erode under the questionable agenda of As part of Its provincial election coverage, the Oakville Beaver asked eadi of the candidates In the Oakville riding "What Is the most pressing Issue In their riding?" Here are their responses. Halton candidates will respond to the same question In the Saturday Weekend Edition. Quality of life is defining issue For all o f us who have chosen O akville as our home, there is one defining issue for this election cam paign: preserving and enhancing the quality o f life that makes our community so unique and special. From our beautiful har bours to our vibrant down town, to the many wonder ful areas in which we live, Oakville is a town that has much to offer its citizens. It's the town I grew up in and the place my wife and I chose to buy our first home and raise a family. W hat defines the quality o f life that we treasure? Good schools offering high standards, a health care sys tem we can depend upon, safe com m unities and a strong econom y are the keys, in my mind. Throughout my time on Local and Regional Council, and as O akville's Volunteer o f the Year in 1 9 9 7 ,1 have worked to help ensure that our town remains strong in these key areas. In education, I served as the first chair of the parents' council at my children's school. Environment prime concern Most pressing issue in Oakville riding is environ mental concern. This con cern has become acute after the loss of the battle to save most of green lands north of Dundas and the realization that in near future about 55,000 more people are going to occupy the area which used to be farm land in Oakville. Coupled with this impending loss of the green lungs of Oakville is the ever increasing pollution o f our air, due to everyday gridlock, traffic jam s on QEW which passes through the middle of our town. Twice a day, thou sands of vehicles are strand ed right in the heart of Oakville, idling and emitting fumes, to be consumed by all of us. This is happening for years because o f the Hwy. 403 merger with QEW at Trafalgar and emerging at Hamilton. Instead of build ing 403 through north of Oakville, which was envis aged and shown on previous maps, as "Future 403", the province named it 407 and made it part of expensive toll highway ETR 407. As a result, 403 ends at Trafalgar · 4 w i " 'I Kevin Flynn - Liberals the Harris/Eves government. The Ontario Liberal Plan for Change promises that public education will again become a ladder o f opportunity for all children so they can climb as high as their abili ties will take them. A child's formative learn ing years are vital in shaping study habits and attitudes towards schooling. T hat's why a Liberal government will limit the size of classes to no more than 20 students in the all-im portant early grades from Kindergarten to Grade 3. Current class sizes o f 35 pupils and more impede a child's ability to learn. (See Flynn' Page 7) Anwar Naqvi - NDP Kurt Franklin - PC and merges with QEW, to emerge again at Hamilton as 403. Thus we lost the by pass which would have taken daily, hundreds and thousands o f cars and com mercial vehicles, directly to Hamilton, Niagara and to USA, by-passing Oakville. Oakvillians were expect ing for years the completion o f 403 from Trafalgar to Hamilton, which was to ease the traffic at QEW, but hand ing over of their "Future 403" stretch to ETR 407 dashed their hopes forever. Now a situation has been created which unnecessarily funnels Hamilton, Niagara, (See `Naqvi' page 7) As a m em ber o f the Halton-Peel District Health C ouncil, I have helped make sure current health care services in Oakville are meeting our needs, and that a new hospital will be built. I served on the Police Com m unity Consultation C om m ittee to keep our streets safe, and as the ViceC hair of the Halton Children's Aid Society, and a m em ber o f the Halton Non-Profit Housing Corp oration, I have pursued poli cies to help less fortunate members o f our community succeed. (See Franklin' page 7) \A fo r YEARS A 0/ OUR 2003s A R E GOING FAST. SO G E T ONE WHILEYOU CAN A T OUR "NEVER M EANS N EVER" N E V E R P A Y IN T E R E S T W H E N YOU B U Y A N Y O F OUR R E M A IN IN G N E W 2 0 0 3 M O D E L S .* w a k e u p a n d d r iv e TM A AUTOPARK MITSUBISHI A U TO P A R K M ITSUBISHI 4315 North Service Road, Burlington 905-331-8500 *AII the above prices are cash prices and have manufacturers rebates applied. Prices are plus freight (Montero Sport and Outlander $995.00, galant $895.00), admin., PDI, licence and all taxes. Cash prices cannot be combined with low interest rates. 0% financing available on all above new 2003 models in lieu of manufacturers rebates, ie $10,000 financed over 60 mos at 0% equals $166.67 monthly. Total obligation $10,000. COB $ 0 .0AC. See dealer for details.