The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

!tL Orono Town Hall GST Included Wednesday October 1, 2003 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 Provincial Candidates have their say John O'Toole Teresa Williams Conservative NDP Gordon MacDonald - Green Party (no picture available) All five Durham Riding candidates in Thursday's provincial election were given the opportunity last week, to voice their vision of how the province should be run. The meeting, sponsored by two Courtice business groups and the Clarington Board of Trade was held at Faith United Church, Nash Road Courtice, last week Thursday evening and was attended by approximately approximately 150 constituents. Opening comments were made by each of the candidates candidates (in alphabetical order): Garry Minnie - Liberal, Gordon MacDonald - Green Party, Kathy McKeever - Freedom Party, John O'Toole - P.C., and Teresa Williams - NDP. Candidates were asked to answer six pre-submitted questions dealing with issues such as the 407, jobs, SARS, hydro, youth, and,a vision for the future of Durham Riding. Liberal party candidate Garry Minnie envisioned an Ontario where with hard work anyone can prosper and those not prosperous still have dignity. dignity. The Liberal Party plans to hold the line on corporate income tax and freeze person- jlj jlji i I ! *■«3 pm m | Saturday, October 4th 12 noon - 5 pm WAGON RIDES! Enter at Ochonski Road iiiiiiMiliiihililLiiiMiillffiiiiiiiiuliliiliuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyHiiüiiiulliiiuiiâuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiuiliiiiiii' al and small business taxes. While Minnie feëls the tolls on the 407 are too high, the highway should be built out to the 115/35 in time. "We are committed to help municipalities, to assist in road maintenance and building bridges," he stated. Public transit must be promoted. "We will give two cents per litre gas tax to be put into transit," he stated. Liberals want to see electricity electricity regulated yet publicly owned. "The price of electricity electricity has to find its proper level so consumers pay the actual cost of the product," he stated. Liberals want to encourage green electricity and co-gener- ation besides getting the nuclear power plants up and running. For the youth, Minnie says his party would ensure Ontario universities and colleges have funding to provide space for students, put more money into the Ontario Student Assistance Program, and raise the school leaving age from 16 to 18. "Those students not academically academically inclined should be encouraged to go into apprenticeship apprenticeship and co-op programs," he stated. More full time nurses would have helped stop the spread of SARS, said Minnie. "We will take federal transfer payments and put them into health care. We will put more money into Lakeridge health," he stated. "Durham ranks at the bottom on per capita spending in the Greater Toronto Area's nine hospitals," hospitals," said Minnie, and vowed to fight for more money. In the next four years Minnie would like to see Lakeridge Health redevelop- Candldates continued page 4 Joan Haring, newly elected co-ordinator of the East Clarington food bank is dealing with too much empty shelf space. Food bank cupboards are bare The cupboards are almost bare at the East Clarington Food Bank in Newcastle. "The Orono community has been excellent at giving to the food bank said Chairman Charles Gray, "the Firefighters and the Guides have had campaigns, but in the summer people tend to forget about the food bank and we keep handing out food." While they need everything, everything, groceries and money, Gray said, right now they are looking for canned beans and vegetables, fruit, sugar, peanut butter, coffee, cereal, and kids school lunch snacks. While kids mostly take snacks to school with their lunch, some of these kids' parents can't afford to buy snacks says Grey. "Our mandate is to provide a three day supply of food once a month to clients," says Haring. Because food dona tions have been low, the food bank has had to buy their own supplies. Cash donations are also used to buy perishable and fresh food. Donations can be dropped off at the food bank, 87 Mill Street N. Newcastle on Tuesday afternoons from 1 - 4 p.m. and on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pick up of larger donations can be arranged by calling the Food Bank at 905-987-1418. •S* it