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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ay 24 ,2 01 8 | 16 1200 Speers Rd., Unit 12, Oakville, Ont. L6L 2X4 (905) 845 - 1408 | Fax (905) 845 - 5931 | ricky@rickywong.ca Ricky Wong CPA, CA, MBA, B. Eng Ricky WongRicky W DIAMONDDIDIDIDIDIAMAMAMAMAMONONDIAMONDONDIAMONDONDIAMONDONDIAMONDONDIAMONDONDIAMONDONONONONONDDD DIAMONDDIDIDIDIDIAMAMAMAMAMONONONONONONONDDD Voted BestAccountant by Oakville Beaver Readers for 11 ConsecutiveYears For more information please check our website www.rickywong.ca •Accounting •Auditing • Taxation JOIN US! An evening of Youthful insight & entertainment. live dance performance | keynote speaker | youth art contest winners 2017 Annual General Meeting Wednesday, June 20, 2018 5:30pm - 8:30pm Location The Freedom Centre | 4343 Regional Road 25 (Bronte Rd.) | Oakville Keynote Speaker DavidMorley, CEO, Unicef Canada To register visit theocf.org BUILDING ON BELONGING Photo courtesy ofTina Reid Health care, business promotion, the manufac- turing sector and govern- ment spending were among the topics of discus- sion during an all candi- dates meeting for the Oak- ville North-Burlington riding, which took place at Glen Abbey United Church on Thursday, May 17. The event, which was hosted by the Oakville Chamber of Commerce, got underway at 6 p.m. ini- tially attracted around 100 people; however, more ar- rived as the debate contin- ued. Participants included Liberal candidate Alvin Tedjo, Progressive Conser- vative candidate Effie Triantafilopoulos and NDP candidate Saima Zai- di. Green party candidate Marianne Workman and Libertarian candidate Charles Zach were not in- vited to participate be- cause neither party has representatives at Queen's Park. When asked about what she would do to promote business, Triantafilopou- los noted there is a compet- itiveness issue for Ontario companies. "We have heard that in the last 15 years something like 300,000 manufactur- ing jobs have fled the prov- ince, either to other prov- inces or to the United States. This is due, very di- rectly, to the policies of Kathleen Wynne's govern- ment," she said. "Our hydro rates, both industrial and for person- al consumption, are com- pletely out of whack. The tax rate is very high. It causes individuals when they have been meeting with me to ask, 'Do we pay for our groceries or do we pay for our hydro?'" Triantafilopoulos said the PC plan to reduce hy- dro rates and taxes would help business competitive- ness. Tedjo said the Liberals set up a program at Sheri- dan College that lets stu- dents, faculty and commu- nity members come to- gether and start a busi- ness. He said another Liberal initiative, the Ontario Net- work of Entrepreneurs has allowed companies from across Ontario, in- cluding many in Halton, to learn from each other and grow. Tedjo also noted Onta- rio currently has the low- est corporate tax rate in the country, which has made it the No. 1 location in the country for foreign direct investment. He said the province's educated workforce at- tracts renowned compa- nies like Amazon. Zaidi said the NDP would reduce hydro rates by 30 per cent by bringing Hydro One back into pub- lic ownership. She said the NDP would also invest $180 billion in infrastructure. On the subject of health care, Zaidi noted that, if elected, the NDP would be providing all Ontarians with free prescription drug and dental coverage and would work to shorten the wait times for surgery. "We will be adding 2,000 beds to hospitals in the first year and putting $19 billion over 10 years into hospital capital expansion to meet growing capacity needs," said Zaidi. She said there would al- so be a 5.3 per cent in- crease in yearly hospital funding at an initial cost of $916 million. The funding would then increase to match infla- tion each year. Tedjo said the Liberals have built the new Oak- ville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital and the Erinoak- Kids facility. He said the Liberals plan to boost hospital funding by 4.6 per cent in the 2018-19 fiscal year and hire 3,500 more nurses. Tedjo said the last time the Progressive Conserva- tives were in power they closed 28 hospitals and fired 6,000 nurses. He cautioned that PC Leader Doug Ford's rheto- ric about finding four per cent in "efficiencies" with- in the Ontario budget can't be achieved without cuts to the health-care system, which will hurt people and increase wait times. Triantafilopoulos ar- gued the Liberals have poured money into the se- nior health-care bureau- cracy and made cuts to front-line workers. NEWS Health care and business among topics discussed at Oakville North-Burlington all candidates debate Liberal Candidate Alvin Tedjo, NDP Candidate Saima Zaidi, and Progressive Conservative Candidate Effie Triantafilopoulos participate in the Oakville Chamber of Commerce all candidates meeting, which took place at Glen Abbey United Church on Thursday, May 17. David Lea/Metroland photo Woman collapses during meeting, removed by paramedics DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com l See LIBERAL, page 37