905877-6944 33 Mountainview Rd. North, Georgetown CANADA W IDE CLEARANCE0% PURCHASE FINANCING UP TO MONTHS 84 ON ALL2014s excluding Corvette • your window & door professionals • 341 Guelph St., Unit 3 Georgetown 905.873.0236 www.buy-wise.ca info@buy-wise.ca • awarded readers choice 22 times • Visit our showroom Quality & Service You Can Count On! www.bathstudio .ca 905-702-0885 332 Guelph Street, Georgetown (Across from Canadian Tire) Thursday, August 7, 2014 Halton Hills' award-winning newspaper serving Acton & Georgetown 48 Pages 50 Cents (+HST) Visit us at www.theifp.ca INSIDE It's time for Leathertown Festival Pg. 15 Meeting the Challenge Pg. 8 Sports Pg. 25 Acton ties to big race Online at www.theifp.ca Despite one fatal police shoot- ing in Oakville and one murder in Burlington in 2013, Halton Region has again been dubbed the safest Canadian regional municipality with a population of more than 100,000. The bragging rights, which Hal- ton has had numerous times be- fore, is based on numbers reported in the recently released Statistics Canada's 2013 Crime Severity In- dex. Statistics Canada introduced the program in 2009 as a measure of severity of crimes committed in Canada. Crimes are assigned 'serious- ness weights,' determined by the number of people convicted of the crime who spend time in jail, and how much jail time those individu- als serve. To calculate the Crime Severity Index, the number of inci- dents for each offence is multiplied by the weight of that offence. According to the report, when compared to communities with populations greater than 100,000 across Canada, Halton has: • The lowest Crime Severity In- dex and the 13th lowest of all 304 reporting municipalities (25.54 in 2013, down from 28.39 in 2012 and 33.98 in 2011). See RECORD, pg. 5 Halton is Canada's safest region By DAVID LEA Metroland Media Group A local mother whose young daughter suffers from a life- threatening condition has won a battle with the Ontario health- care system, which is now grant- ing her little girl essential long- term oxygen at home. But Erin Gibson isn't stop- ping there. The Acton resident is continuing to fight for other palliative patients who are being told they can only receive home oxygen therapy for 90 days. Gibson-- mother of 15-month-old Piper, who suf- fers from a rare form of epilepsy known as infantile spasms-- re- cently started a petition to the provincial government after her daughter was denied long-term home oxygen therapy because she has been deemed palliative. "Palliative does not mean dy- ing in 90 days," she said. "Chil- dren like Piper, who need oxygen 50 per cent of the time, should be able to have that service regard- less of what stage of her pallia- tive condition she's currently in." See Mom, pg. 3 By MELANIE HENNESSEY Special to the IFP Acton mom in battle with Ontario health system for better palliative care for all Fifteen-month-old Piper Gibson, who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy and has been deemed palliative, is breathing a little easier these days now that the government has granted her long-term oxygen therapy at home. She's pictured here with big sister Kaeleigh, dad Matt and mom Erin, who is continuing to petition the government to change its oxygen funding rules for palliative patients. Photo by Melanie Hennessey New business opens, pg. 12