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7 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,January 6,2022 insidehalton.com A one-time connection fee will apply to each new line or device activation/upgrade. * Speeds reduced beyond Fast LTE data amounts. For Digital Discount program details and how to redeem your $5 monthly discount, visit freedommobile.ca/digitaldiscount.All Freedom Mobile services are subject to our Terms of Service, Internet Tra c Management Policy, Fair Usage Policy, and Privacy Policy located at freedommobile.ca.The Freedom Mobile name and logos and other words, titles, phrases,marks, logos, icons, graphics are trademarks of, or used under license by, Freedom Mobile Inc.All rights reserved. Oakville Smart Centre 261 Oak Walk Drive Oakville 289.291.3261 Walkers Line 3505 Upper Middle Road Burlington 289.427.5260 Appleby Village 5111 New Street Burlington 905.635.0584 WITH DIGITAL DISCOUNT SLEIGH OVERPRICED DATA. ago for work, and the educa- tional opportunities now available to his twin daugh- ters -- he considers himself lucky. As with most area resi- dents, COVID remains top of mind for Kanetkar. "(Before the pandemic) I never watched out for who I am parking next to, how close I am talking to the next car or if I'm in a grocery shop," said Kanetkar, who works in the software in- dustry. "And then kids at school, it was particularly testing for them. We came in here at a time when the schools had exams, which means my kids didn't have a chance to make friends." He generally believes that the Town of Oakville has done a good job re- sponding to the pandemic -- and wants the public to do more to flatten the curve in 2022. "It's high time we asked, what are we doing? How much do we want to rely on the government, right? The doctors are tired. The nurs- es are tired." Mayor Rob Burton laid out much of his plans for 2022 in his recent State of the Town address. The pan- demic and economic recov- ery were among his key talking points. Meanwhile, Ward 4 councillors Peter Longo and Allan Elgar empha- sized the "importance of fol- lowing the Livable Oakville Official Plan to carry out the Town's vision to 'be the most livable town in Canada'." Infrastructure projects are focal points for both Longo and Elgar -- the Pa- lermo Village area intensifi- cation being among them. Of particular note were "key investments in Auto- mated Speed Enforcement equipment." Infrastructure for electric vehicles, includ- ing buses, was another fo- cus. Ward 5 Councillor Marc Grant said he is concerned with developers fast-track- ing projects as the town emerges from the pandem- ic. He wants "take time to fully understand the impact that (developers') requests might have." Of particular concern to Grant are infrastructure projects. He is focused on the College Park Area -- Parks Study, a project that would revitalize older parks. Grant says he has been in talks with police on finding solutions for reduc- ing noisy and speeding vehi- cles on local roads. "I'd want us to enact meaningful fines that are not just a small nuisance to those who spend thousands on their cars, but are puni- tive toward those who feel they can ignore the rules of road safety," he added. Grant's counterpart, Jeff Knoll, wants to do every- thing in his "power to help our community address COVID-19. In his capacity as chair of the Halton Police Board, he would like to continue to im- prove transparency. He would like to "stick to the plan" as much as possi- ble with development. "For example, the Uptown Core was always meant to be a mixed-use area with homes and businesses all co-exist- ing where there are many places for recreation, em- ployment and access to businesses." He acknowledges a pres- sure to add more density to the area and that will come to a head in 2022. "We must 'stick to the plan' more than ever before." Ward 6 councillor Nata- lia Lishchyna and Tom Ad- ams say they are focused on traffic and pedestrian safe- ty, park renewals, road re- surfacing and forestry work and the development of a "multi-year action plan for equity, diversity and inclu- sion." Ward 2 Councillor Cathy Duddeck named the Kerr Street Underpass Project commencing as something she is looking forward to in 2022, as is addressing speed- ing and traffic calming con- cerns in neighbourhoods like the West River commu- nity. The reconstruction of Speers Road is another area of concern for her. Oakville MP Anita Anand -- now the Minister of National Defence -- listed the sexual assault crisis in the military, equipment for troops and supporting allies against "Russian aggres- sion" as her priorities. She added that she's fo- cused on combating climate change and creating fiscal responsibility. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With a new year underway and the pan- demic showing no signs of letting up, we wanted to share what residents and officials were looking for- ward to in 2022. NEWS Continued from page 1 Vidyadhar Kanetkar, an avid photographer, says the new year presents an opportunity for all to renew the fight against COVID. Mansoor Tanweer/Metroland DEVELOPMENT, SAFETY TOP CONCERNS FOR COUNCILLORS