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Halton Regional Meeting Schedule Gary Carr Regional Chair Please let us know as soon as possible if you will have an accessibility or accommodation need at a Halton Region hosted event or meeting. 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville, Ontario L6M 3L1 Dial 311 or 905-825-6000 Toll Free 1-866-442-5866 TTY 905-827-9833 www.halton.ca The Regional Municipality of Halton www.halton.ca 2 2 / 2 3 0 9 1 1 Meetings can be viewed at www.halton.ca Advocating for Halton As the October 6 provincial election date approaches voters are encouraged to learn about candidates positions on issues impacting Halton. Candidates were asked to respond to a series of questions and explain to voters how they would resolve key issues facing Halton. The questions and responses received from the candidates are posted on Haltons website at www.halton.ca/ontarioelection2011. Visit the website, learn about the issues facing Halton, and get to know how provincial election candidates will advocate in support of our community. Please remember to vote your vote helps shape Haltons future. Sept 27, 9:30 a.m. Health & Social Services Ctte. Sept 28, 9:30 a.m. Planning & Public Works Ctte. 1:30 p.m. Admin & Finance Ctte. Oct 5, 9:30 a.m. Regional Council Celebrating International Year of Forests The United Nations has declared 2011 the International Year of Forests (IYF). This years theme, Forests for People, is intended to raise awareness about forest conservation, sustainable management, and sustainable development of all types of forests. Haltons Regional Forests Halton Region owns and manages over 665 hectares of forests in 14 separate tracts in Milton and Halton Hills. Several forests tracts are part of the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve. Our Regional Forests provide rich and diverse habitat for a number of rare species and play a critical role in maintaining the health of our natural environment. Forest Hike A Forest Hike of the Regional Forests will be held on October 1st and will be led by Haltons Regional Forester. The Hike will start at 1 p.m. and conclude at 4:30 p.m. There is no cost for this event. Registration is required as space is limited. To register and get details dial 311 or (905)-825-6000 by September 27, 2011. Learn more about IYF and Haltons Regional Forests online at www.halton.ca/RegionalForests. w w w .i n si d eH A LT O N .c o m O A K V IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , S ep te m be r 23 , 2 01 1 1 0 What is your stance on area roads and a Niagara to GTA highway? Throughout the provincial election campaign, the Oakville Beaver is asking candidates in the Oakville and Halton ridings to respond to weekly ques- tions. Responses from the Oakville candidates appear each Thursday and responses from the Halton candidates appear each Friday leading up to the Oct. 6 election. The third question is: "What is your stance on area roads, specifically a new Niagara-to-Greater-Toronto-Area highway?" Nik Spohr NDP Our opinion is that the mid-pen, or any major highway expansions, are not a priority. If elected, we would work closely with munici- palities and regions to explore the best possible options for meeting trans- portation needs. This plan would inconvenience pNik S ohr See Nik Spohr page 13 The PCs agree with all the municipalities along the route and support a new highway from Fort Erie to Highway 403 near the Hamilton Airport. This highway would be built in place of an expansion of the QEW, which would damage rare tender fruit producing farm land between See Ted Chudleigh page 13 Ted Chudleigh Ted Chudleigh PC Our party is very clear on this important issue: an Ontario Liberal government will not proceed with the pro- posed Mid-Peninsula high- way. Earlier this summer, I was happy to host a meeting with Ontario Minister of Transportation Kathleen Wynne and local residents where she made it clear that this project would not Indira Naidoo-Harris Liberals Indira Naidoo-Harris See Indira Naidoo-Harris page 15 Freedom Party of Ontario (FPO) will not build a mid- peninsula highway through the environmentally protect- ed Niagara Escarpment. This election plank is the key issue that inspired me to run for office and oppose Progressive Conservative Leader Mr. Hudak's aggressive attempt to implement this For more than 20 years, I have been saying that we need more roads and the government, the past and present govern- ments, make excuses with policies, environmental assessments, saying the people don't want it. I am in favour of more roads, otherwise we are going to start killing each other on the roads that we've got for the simple reason we are parked all of the time. Area roads have not kept up with the Halton housing explo- sion. When plans are made to do housing developments, the roads should be built first and housing should be built near workplaces. If elected, I will have three to four meetings each week for at least two months so that every interested citizen can have their say. It might be that the citizens have much better ideas than politicians. Maybe existing roads can be widened and where Gina van den Burg FPO Tony Rodrigues Family Coalition Phil Buck Independent Gina van den Burg Tony Rodrigues Phil Buck See van den Burg page 15 See Tony Rodrigues page 15 See Phil Buck page 15 Editor's note: The following candidates responded to our question by deadline.