www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday October 20, 2006 - 7 Halton Region chair candidates respond on issues During the 2006 municipal election The Oakville Beaver is posing questions to the Regional chair candidates on a weekly basis. The candidates' responses to these questions are printed in the Friday edition of The Oakville Beaver until Nov. 3. This week, the candidates were asked: Each day thousands of people leave Halton to commute to jobs outside the region. At the same time, thousands of people commute from outside the region to work in Halton. What is your plan to increase the number of people who live and work in Halton? Brian Burton I have two daughters in university, and like most parents want them to be able to live and work in Halton if they so choose. Halton's seven per cent a year tax increase for five years will drive jobs out of Halton. Brian Burton Developers do not have as much right, more so maybe to be at the table as anyone else. I will put homeowners and business owners first. As a career CEO and engineer I know what attracts high tech/value added jobs easy access to highways, skilled workers and low property taxes. Many R&D and high tech jobs go to Ottawa and Waterloo. We too can attract new R&D/high tech jobs in Halton with my vision: New Industrial and Commercial Parks As Chair I will work to create new industrial parks to attract high tech jobs along our major highways using a new highly competitive tax structure. Sheridan College should be a university. As Chair of Halton I will not rest until Gary Carr In my mission statement on my web site at www.garycarr.ca I talk about economic prosperity in Halton. The economic prosperity means we need a region where we can provide an environment to cre- Gary Carr ate and maintain jobs for our citizens. We must make Halton a good place to operate a business so that we can give our citizens the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families. We must ensure the taxes paid by residents are fair and reasonable. We also need to ensure that we have the infrastructure so that companies will see Halton as a good place to operate a business. The Regional Chair needs to sell our economic development so that we can attract new investments and keep jobs in Halton. I was proud of the fact that I promised to help Ford workers get the new flex plant by getting the federal and provincial governments to invest in the new plant. Brent Marshall I have been fortunate to live and work my entire life in Halton. As an active member of the community having to get from place to place, I recognize that solutions are needed for the increasing numBrent Marshal ber of commuters. It is not only important to reduce traffic and exhaust, but also have people spend less time commuting and more time with their families. As Halton's CAO , I oversaw a multi-prong approach to encourage transit use and to have more residents live and work in Halton. Halton's Comprehensive Housing Strategy promotes the construction of a variety of housing types so residents can live and work in Halton. Halton's Comprehensive Economic Development Study promotes new businesses so residents can work in Halton. Halton's Clean Air Plan encourages our employees to use transit and ask other employers to do the same. Robert Plaschka The only way we can reduce the amount of commuting done by people living in Halton is to attract jobs to Halton. High priority will be : first, well-paying manufacturing jobs Robert Plaschka and second, well-paying IT and commercial jobs. In the short term, some of the IT and commercial job types, home-based (telecommuting) and flexible work should be encouraged so that commuting is not required or reduced. Any manufacturing attracted to Halton should also be coupled with a review of the existing transit to determine if a significant number of employees could use transit or alternative transport instead of automobiles. Long term, new developments need to be planned so that alternative and transit will be the first choice method of getting to and from work. One method would be to increase the areas zoned mixed use or commercial/residential. See Brian Burton page 10 See Gary Carr page 10 See Brent Marshall page 10 Glass and Bronze "Yves Lohé" Signed, Limited Edition Each piece hand crafted 19" ©2006 Cartier Now Featuring Deep Whitening Santos ® Demoiselle steel Authorized Cartier Agency Discover the revolutionary new technique guaranteed to surpass your previous whitening experience. Call for a FREE consultation for a smile you will love to show off. 162 Lakeshore Road East, Oakville Old Oakville Market 321 Cornwall Road, Oakville, Ontario 905.849.6338 www.bronzefroggallery.com A Green Thumb Landscaping company 35 years, one mission, great gardens. 1500 Sixth Line (just South of Upper Middle) Hopedale Mall 2nd Level, #201 905·815·8777 www.knarjewellery.com 905.815.0775 905.827.4991 oakvilledentist.org