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•T he IF P• H al to n H ill s • Th ur sd ay , J un e 13 , 2 01 3 6 OPINION Andrea Horwath is intelligent, charming and passionate about her job. That said, she's also dead wrong in supporting the scandal-plagued Liberal government. The leader of the Ontario New Democratic Par- ty sat down with editors, reporters and publisher Dana Robbins of Metroland Media Group's South division Monday for an editorial roundtable. (See story at www.theifp.ca). Topics ranged from Metrolinx's Big Move, to development to minority government but much of the discussion centred on the NDP's intention to support the Liberal government's budget-- a move they followed through on Tuesday as the legislature broke for the summer. Revelations indicating Liberal staffers may have deleted emails in an attempt to cover-up details of the gas plant cancellations that left taxpayers with a $585 million bill were not enough for Horwath to pull NDP support of the budget, forcing an election. Instead, she argued it made little sense to kill a budget that contained many benefits New Demo- crats demanded-- including the establishment of an Ontario Financial Accountability Office to pro- vide independent oversight and public information about government spending. "We do not want to walk away from the oppor- tunity of putting that office in place... and making sure that there is that extra opportunity to prevent scandals from happening," she said. What Horwath wouldn't say is how many Liberal scandals it would take for the NDP to yank its sup- port-- eHealth, ORNGE and the gas plants fiasco weren't obviously enough. The fact the NDP are trailing the Tories and Lib- erals by roughly 10 per cent in the polls-- and have been trending downward-- didn't factor in her deci- sion to support the Liberals she said straight-faced. The fact remains that the deeper in the mud the Liberals get stuck, the more that muck will stick to Horwath and her cohorts. "Do I support the Liberals? No, I'm a New Demo- crat," Horwath said. Funny, it's getting harder to tell the difference. What will it take? Steve Nease Letters to the editor Dear editor, So much for the promotion of lo- cal shopping! I thought I had at least three and a half hours to park on Main Street in downtown Georgetown recently but, much to my dismay, after sup- porting the merchants by visiting the bank, going for lunch, getting a parcel mailed and picking up some food products, a $20 parking ticket was added to the premium of being a "Shop Local" supporter. Apparently one is only allowed to park on Main Street for two hours. To make matters worse, not only was I supporting the downtown busi- nesses that morning but was coming back that afternoon and night. So even though I can't get my $20 back I can warn others of the two-hour parking restrictions on Main Street so they don't feel as burned as I did. It won't cost a cent for parking at the new outlet stores and it doesn't cost at all to park at the Market Place mall, so why impose a two-hour restriction on parking downtown where merchants could use the sup- port for more clientele? G. Powell, Georgetown Letters policy 905-873-0301 Publisher: Dana Robbins General manager: Steve Foreman (sforeman@theifp.ca) Retail advertising manager: Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@theifp.ca) Managing editor: John McGhie (jmcghie@theifp.ca) Distribution manager: Nancy Geissler (ngeissler@theifp.ca) Classifieds Kristie Pells (classified@theifp.ca) Accounting Rose Marie Gauthier Editorial Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@theifp.ca) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@theifp.ca) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@theifp.ca) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@theifp.ca) Halton Police report the regional crime rate hit a historic low in 2012. Do you believe Hal- ton is a safer community today than 10 or 20 years ago? • No (75%) • Yes (25%) WEB POLL RESULTS (Go to www.theifp.ca) Parking limit 'burns' shopper Boreland's Karate will be missed Support appreciated Letters must include an address and daytime phone 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. Email: jmcghie@theifp.ca Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. Dear editor, Recently, Chris Boreland closed the doors of Boreland's Karate. Boreland's was a mainstay in Georgetown fitness for 20 years and should not leave unacknowledged. Two generations of kids learned re- spect for themselves and others while they were also gaining confidence and healthy habits they would use for their entire lives. When his wife had their third child, Sensei Chris created a fitness program aimed at the moth- ers of those kids. "KickFit" was an in- stant success and hundreds of women learned to kick and punch their way to better health. The program he cre- ated has been copied all over Ontario with great success. Sensei also introduced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to Halton Hills and trained its most successful MMA fighters. Thank you Sensei for the time and effort you gave over the past two decades. Your greatest success is reflected in the men and women you trained who are now training others. Stephanie Crammond, Norval Dear editor, The volunteers at the Upper Credit Humane Society's Thrift Store in Moore Park Plaza would like to thank everyone who came out to our second annual plant sale May 25. A big thanks to to donors of plant material and garden equipment. We made more than $600, which will be donated to Trooper's Fund. This Fund helps animals that come into the care of the Society and need extra care. Every day the store receives won- derful donations from the public and by selling these we are able to support the work of the Humane Society. Frances Walker, Georgetown The Independent & Free Press is published Thursday and is one of sev- eral Metroland Media Group Ltd. community newspapers. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copy- right. Unauthorized use is prohibited. The Independent & Free Press