in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, S ep te m be r 26 ,2 01 9 | 2 reviewing the governance, decision-making and ser- vice delivery functions of eight regional municipali- ties (including Halton) and Simcoe County. Burton and others have voiced concerns the re- view could result in Oak- ville and Halton's other municipalities being amal- gamated. "I believe that would constitute a loss of local identity, and I believe local identity is a crucial part of community engagement, and I believe that commu- nity engagement is the heart and soul and back- bone and brain of commu- nity health and it's the rea- son why Oakville is Oak- ville," said Burton. "We lose that and we start turning Oakville into just another place." He also said the region- alization of fire depart- ments and transit would make these services more expensive, which in turn would result in taxes going up. "All of our firefighters are professional firefight- ers. We have more sta- tions. We have more trucks. We have a fire training campus where we train our firefighters to the highest degree," said Bur- ton. "Our neighbours in Hal- ton all have, to one degree or another, partly volun- teer fire departments. The result is we have a much higher standard of fire protection and lower fire insurance and that is good for homes and business-for homes and business-f es." For transit, Burton pointed out that Oakville has 100 buses and a grid system while Burlington has around 50 buses and Milton has around eight buses. Halton Hills, he said, does not even believe in buses. "Are you going to take transit away from Oak- ville or are you going to raise everyone up to Oak- ville's standard?" Burton asked. The mayor said the province has floated the idea that in the event of some kind of amalgam- ation the transit service levels would be kept the same but taxed differently so that areas of the region with more transit would be taxed more for it. Burton argued this ap- proach defeats the point of regionalization. The mayor says many residents have already told the province how they feel about amalgamation.feel about amalgamation.f He said work by the We Love Oakville-Stop Amal- gamation citizen's group has so far resulted in 3,400 emails being sent by resi- dents protesting the idea of amalgamation to the pre- mier. "In the history of Oak- ville there has never been 3,400 letters or emails sent about anything," said Bur- ton. "So, Oakville is fully engaged in this issue." He called on residents to keep up the pressure by going to weloveoakville- .org and joining the email campaign. Burton pointed out Oakville may be fighting an uphill battle because while the minister of mu- nicipal affairs and housing recently told municipal leaders gathered for an As- sociation of Municipalities of Ontario conference that no decisions regarding amalgamations have been made, there are indica- tions where the province wants this all to go. "He chose two advisers who both are well known for favouring amalgam-for favouring amalgam-f ations ... That's not exactly what I would call a 'look at both sides of a question' set up," said Burton. "Also when the minis- ter spoke to us at the Au- gust AMO conference about how no decision has been made ... the slide be- hind him said his goal was to 'Strengthen Regional Government.' Whatever that means, I have to leave to you to interpret." The Regional Govern- ment Review was not the sole topic of Burton's speech. He noted Oakville is succeeding in attracting new businesses with Prod- igy Game, an award-win- ning educational technolo- gy company, coming to town soon with 300 jobs. The mayor said BDO, a leading consulting, busi- ness advisory, public ac- counting and tax compa- ny, is bringing 500 jobs to Oakville at the new office tower on 360 Oakville Place Dr. For 2020 Burton is fore- casting a property tax in- crease of 1.96 per cent. He said Burlington is aiming for a 2 per cent property tax increase and predicts Mississauga will have an increase of 3 per cent while Toronto will have an increase of 2.5 per cent. Burton also noted that for 2019 Oakville had totalfor 2019 Oakville had totalf tax paid debt equal to 1.4 per cent of its revenue while Ontario had total tax paid debt equal to 245.5 per cent of its revenue. He anticipates Oak- ville's number in 2020 will drop to total tax paid debt equal to 1.1 per cent of its revenue. NEWS Continued from page 1 UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF LETTERS PROTESTING AMALGAMATION Call 289-205-3443 atlascare.ca * A/C only while supplies last. Cannot be combined with any other discount. Contact us for details. FURNACE SEASON IS COMING* Pay for a two stage Lennox Furnace, and we'll upgrade you to a Deluxe Top Of the Line modulating model SLP at no extra charge Pay for a 13 seer Lennox A/C, we'll upgrade you to a 14 or 16 Seer at no extra charge SEASON IS Pay for a two stage Lennox + Lennox Rebates + 6 Month Deferred Payment SAVE UP TO $1,200 A/C END OF SEASON CLEARANCE*