504 IROQUOIS SHORE ROAD, UNIT #1, OAKVILLE, ON L6H 3K4 www.leisureindustries.ca *Limited Time Offer, No Dealers Please, Quantities Limited. 905.815.5252FACTORY DIRECT 14'X28 Rect $89916'X32' Rect $99918'X36' Rect $119920'X40' Rect $1299INSTALLED WOVEN TARP COVERS12'X24' $59.9914'X28' $69.9916'X32' $89.9918'X36' $99.9920'X40' $109.99ABOVEGROUND COVERS15'R $29.9918'R $39.9921'R $59.9924'R $69.99+ many more sizes FACTORY DIRECTVINYL LINERReplace your old Iinerthis fall and SAVE BIG!!!POOL SIZE FACTORY PRICE14'X28' $109916'X32' $129918'X36' $159920'X40' $1999 FREE INSTALLATION SALE ON SAFETY COVERS. Designed forWorry-Free protection INGROUND POOLS FACTORY DIRECT 12'X24' Kidney Pool $24,999 INSTALLED! 12'X24' Rect Safety Cover $799 INSTALLED 5 Thursday, Septem ber 22, 2011 O A K V ILLE B EA V ER w w w .in sid eH A LTO N .co m region the safest municipality in Canada three years in a row, according to Macleans magazine. However, the Region needs the funding to continue that trend. Were the fastest growing region in Canada, he said. We need to add more men and women to the services of fire and EMS to keep our community safe. As we grow, were going to need funds to add new police officers, to add new firefighters, EMS and long-term care personnel. Burton attacked PC Party Leader Tim Hudak saying savings proposed by the Tory leader to the province would have a greater cost on municipalities. Oakville taxpayers are benefiting 10 times as much from uploading the pooling charges for Torontos welfare and social housing costs, plus provin- cial welfare and court security costs, as they ever could from any possible changes in wage arbitration rules, Burton said. The claim by the Progressive Conservatives that arbitration rule changes would benefit municipalities more than continuing this uploading is just plain wrong. He said if uploading stops, it will lead to higher property taxes, equalling a 3.3 per cent property tax increase for the purpose of supporting Toronto and Queens Park. He said the GTA pooling costs Halton taxpayers almost $12 million per year for its social housing and wel- fare costs. Another $6.1 million a year is spent on provincial welfare and court security. The total amount of about $18 million per year will be lifted from the Halton property tax bill if uploading continues as scheduled with the cur- rent government. The Oakville share of that is $7.5 million. Wage arbitration applies to police, fire, emergency and long-term care personnel, of which the Oakville share is $72 million. Burton said, if wage arbitration rule changes led to a one per cent lower wage increase in all essential services payrolls, that would save Oakville $720,000 per year, less than a tenth the value of the uploading savings. I call on Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak to match the com- mitment given already by the Liberal, NDP and Green parties in the election to continue to shift Toronto welfare and social housing costs, plus provin- cial welfare and court security costs from local property taxpayers to the province, Burton said. The property tax is the wrong tax for Mr. Hudak to use for provincial and Toronto expenses. Burton added that uploading these costs to the Province will benefit mar- ginalized people. Uploading costs back to the Province puts these costs more on pro- vincial income taxes, which are shared by many people and businesses and not paid by many seniors and others on low or fixed incomes, he said. Furthermore, he said the uploading is giving municipalities stable and long- term financial planning bases until 2018, while towns and cities deal with the costs of growth. He said ending uploading would cause property tax hell. The Region is currently questioning candidates in the provincial election over the issue of the uploading, and the responses will be posted on the regions website. Carr encouraged all Halton residents to go on the website to read what each candidates response is, before casting a vote. To learn more about A Strong Halton for a Strong Ontario Partners for the Future and to read the candidate responses, visit www.halton.ca/ontario- election2011. Region weighing in on provincial election ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER FIRM STANCE: Halton Region Chair Gary Carr, along with Oakville Mayor Rob Burton, backed by members of the Halton police and municipal fire depart- ments, discussed Haltons advocacy platform, A Strong Halton for a Strong Ontario Partners for the Future. Continued from page 1 For local PC reaction, see page 10 Dental Surgeon. Laser, Family & Cosmetic Dentistry. 1500 Heritage Way, Oakville ON L6M 3H4 CREATING SENSATIONAL SMILES IN OAKVILLE FOR 19YEARS. Dr. Stephen Phelan Call 905.827.1619 to arrange an appointment Thank You for voting for me the last 14 years!www.phelandental.com Join our community and enter to win a 64 GB iPad 2! www.facebook.com/DrStephenPhelan www.phelandental.com Dr. Stephen Phelan, DDS Dr. Phelan takes special satisfaction by helping patients create the smile of their dreams. He believes that the key to creating a great smile is to have clear and open communication between his patients, ceramist and himself. To achieve this he has developed a special treatment communication form that he uses to predictably plan and complete smile makeovers for his patients. The form has been so popular that it is used in a number of dental practices in Toronto and across North America. Visit our new website and facebook page