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Volume 73, Number 47 GST Included $1.25 Wednesday December 8, 2010 Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Orono Town Hall Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Children from the Orono Public School sang carols on the steps of the Town Hall Thursday night as part of the BIA's Olde-fashioned Christmas in Orono celebration. Three candidates seek Regional Chair Bowmanville resident Louis Bertrand has thrown his name into the contest to become the next Chair of the Region of Durham. One of the first items on the agenda at the inaugural meeting of the newly elected Regional council on Wednesday morning will be to elect the Chair for this term. The period for nominations for the Chair position closed on noon Monday, with three people vying for the position. Current Regional Chair Roger Anderson has held the position since 1997, and is seeking his fourth term. Former Clarington Mayor John Mutton has been actively campaigning for the position all year. Mr. Bertrand says he "wants to offer a 'none of the above' alternative to the two previously declared candidates," in a press release issued on Monday. "If I was an incoming councillor who ran on a platform of change and transparency, I'd be hard pressed to vote for either candidate," Bertrand stated. While Anderson pushed the incinerator on Courtice, Mutton worked on the winning bid for the incinerator company, according to Bertrand. "I want to be the candidate of conscience," he said. Although a long-time opponent of the Durham/ York incinerator project, Bertrand emphasizes that he is concerned with issues of importance to all Durham Region voters. "There has long been a democratic deficit in the Region, and voters are turned off when they find out they are shut out," he stated. According to Bertrand, the $270 million incinerator is the most costly and inflexible way to deal with waste, yet it was pushed through at every step of the way, over objections by residents who demanded answers they never got. Bertrand is a professional engineer, currently teaching at the School of Science and Engineering resign his party membership if selected as the next Chair of Durham Region. Clarington's Regional Councillor for Wards 3 & 4, Willie Woo, along with Regional Councillor John Neal of Oshawa, have nominated Bertrand for this position. "Mr. Bertrand is the right person at the right time to become the next Regional Chair and be the positive change to lead this Council into the future," states Woo. Changing the method of how Durham Region selects its Chair was the subject of a Region-wide referendum in October. Nearly 80 percent of those who voted in the Region indicated they would prefer to have the Regional Chair elected by the voters of the Region rather than the 28 Regional Councillors as is the current practice. The referendum is not binding, as less than 50 percent of the eligible voters participated in the election. Bertrand says, if elected he would seek a strong mandate from council to begin the work to change Durham Region's by-laws and take the necessary steps so the next Regional Chair will be elected by the voters of Durham Region in the next municipal election. "Mr. Bertrand is the right person at the right time to become the next Regional Chair and be the positive change to lead this council into the future." What's inside... ~ Willie Woo Local Councillor Technology at Durham College. He is also currently the president of the Durham Green Party of Ontario Constituency Association. He says he would see page 5