Minister Deb Matthews Announces $2.6 Million for Georgetown Hospital

Pictured above is Minister Deb Matthews as she made the wonderful announcement this morning that the Ministry has approved $2.6 Million for the Emergency Room Expansion and CT scanner room at Georgetown Hospital. There was a "standing room only" crowd on hand in the Activity Room at the Hospital to hear the good news.
The Minister acknowledged the fact that this hospital was built in 1961 and hasn't had an expansion or overhaul since that time. The crowd burst into cheers and applause at the announcement because although they expected good news, they didn't expect the Minister to exceed the ask of $1.9 million.

The Minister also joked that she now thinking of herself not as the Minister of Health but now the Minister of Halton Healthcare, given the recent announcements of funding for Oakville Trafalgar Hospital and most recently funding for Milton Hospital. Although Joseph Brant Hospital isn't in Halton Healthcare, it is in Halton Region and has also received positive news on funding an expansion.

This support from the provincial government is great for Halton Hills and illustrates that the current government does recognize that growth areas are in need of provincial investment.

It has taken a very long time to make this commitment a reality at Georgetown Hospital. The crowd was made up of many community leaders who have pushed for this funding for quite some time. The Halton Healthcare CEO John Oliver would be among those since he was the CEO of Georgetown Hospital in the early 90's prior to amalgamation. Dr. Don Trant, another former CEO of Georgetown Hospital was on hand and noted that he really thought he was never going to see the day when this actually happened.

Minister Matthews said that this announcement was not only about the funding but was also approval for the project to proceed. This is just as important as the funding and means that this project can go to tender immediately.

The ball is now in our court to raise the community share of $5 million. This represents the largest fundraising campaign ever in our town. With Fred Helson's exceptional personal gift of $1 million we are well on our way. We are a generous community and so I expect that, with this provincial support in hand, the campaign will quickly meet its goal.

Moya Johnson wins Liberal nomination for Wellington-Halton Hills

Last night I attended the Liberal nomination meeting for the riding of Wellington Halton Hills. There was a large enthusiastic crowd at the Rockwood Library to hear Moya make her first speech which was very well received. I am enthusiastic about Moya's campaign as I have worked with Moya for 14 years as ward mates on Halton Hills Town Council. It was my previlege to officially nominate Moya.
For the record, here are some exerpts from my speech.

The search for the best possible candidate, meant finding someone who has significant political experience, someone who is well respected, someone who has illustrated a passion for the liberal party goals and aspirations, someone who is articulate, and someone who is courageous enough to put themselves out in front of the public eye and someone who cares enough about the future of this province and in particular the future of this community and riding to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve success.


I am here tonight to nominate that special person, my friend and long time colleague, Moya Johnson.
Moya and I go back a long long way. We were both members of the Georgetown University Women’s Club 20 years ago and participated in a number of small political activities such as a group from the club who took turns attending town council meetings and reporting back to the club.
At that time a fellow club member Gail Rutherford decided to run for council and both Moya and I volunteered to help her out in the campaign. Gail was elected to represent Ward 3. After 3 years Gail decided that she didn’t wish to carry on and so there was an opening for someone to fill. Moya stepped up to fill that void. I had no political aspirations of my own at the time but was filled with admiration for Moya taking the plunge into local politics.
 However, 3 years later, there was another opening in Ward 3 and I also threw my hat in the ring. Since that time 14 years ago, Moya and I have worked together for the betterment of Ward 3 and the Town in general.

 I am here nominating Moya because I have seen first hand in Moya all of the qualities that I listed previously.

 Moya has proven herself through her role as chair of the Accessibility Committee, where she was a champion for more accessible town facilities and services. And as Chair of the Fire Services Committee, championing improved facilities, and now as Chair of the Heritage Committee, where she has supported the preservation of our local heritage buildings.

Her concern for safety and health are ever present

She has an inquiring mind and asks many questions to ensure that she has a full understanding of the issues.

She has been fearless in presenting her view even when her view differs from the majority, such as voting for public transit.
 She is unafraid of hard work and made holding down 2 jobs look easy. But believe me, few people would be on that early GO Train after getting home at midnight following a long drawn out council meeting. But Moya did it.

When a complaint comes from the public, Moya is right on top of it, finding out more about the problem and working to find a solution.

•For 17 years she has provided the public with exemplary service

•Stepping up to run for a seat in provincial parliament is a big decision. It means putting a lot of things in your life on hold, such as babysitting one’s cherished grandchildren. It means contemplating getting back on the GO train for another 4 years. It means letting go of local projects and letting others pick up the slack. It means getting to know communities throughout the vast riding and making all of them equal priorities. It means changing focus from purely local issues to adding in broader provincial issues.

.But Moya is up to the challenge. She is enthusiastic and energetic and will make a fabulous MPP.

So I am very pleased and proud and honoured to be nominating my friend and colleague Moya Johnson as the Liberal candidate for the riding of Wellington - Halton Hills.

Local Resident speaks out about highway 4.3

Below are exerpts from a letter send from local Halton Hills resident Peter Belshaw Ph. D. Chemistry/Biochemistry. The letter was sent to the GTA West Consultant Project Manager Neil Ahmed project_team@gta-west.com with a copy to the Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne kwynne.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org.

Building this highway extension through rural farmland and residential areas will have an enormous impact on the environment, far greater than what is claimed in the phase 1 environmental assessment. The proposed route of the highway will divide south Halton Hills creating a new southern boundary for the town, in the years to come, it is likely that every inch of land between the 401 and the proposed 4-3 extension will be developed commercial/industrial as a result of this new highway. In addition a band of commercial/industrial development would also occur to the immediate north of the 4-3 extension. The net result would be that all the farmland in rural Halton Hills would eventually be developed/paved. The environmental assessment in the draft report only appears to consider the direct impacts of the 4 lanes initially proposed, not the future development of the highway, nor the commercial/industrial development that is likely to follow. The increased vehicular traffic and future commercial/industrial development will also result in a significant lowering of air quality and an increase in noise pollution in the region. The proposed 4-3 extension would also result in the loss of some of the best farmland in Canada. Given that only 8% of Canada’s land is tillable (source: former MP Julian Reed of Halton Hills, citizens meeting open comment June 23rd, 2011 Glen Cairn Golf Course), we should not be paving/developing our best farmland. Given global warming and peak oil, we will need these resources when a few million climate refugees arrive on our doorstep in the foreseeable future (just look at the water wars already happening in the US southwest).

In my judgment (as a Ph.D. scientist Chemistry/Biochemistry), the environmental assessment in the draft report is a complete joke worthy of derision and jest were it not so frightening/impacting towards the south Halton Hills region.

Dr. Belshaw makes many other points in his letter regarding alternatives to the new highway which he has given me permission to share as I will continue to do in a future blog.
In the meantime, be sure to pick up a postcard and send it to Minister Wynne if you are also concerned that this proposed highway spells the end of your vision for Halton Hills. Postcards are available at the many locations around town, including the Civic Centre. Check out the town's website for locations http://www.haltonhills.ca/

Did Anyone Ask the Farmers?

This is a typical piece of southern Halton Hills where the province proposes to construct a new 400 series highway. This is exactly where option 4.3 will  go if it is approved.
At yesterday's Planning at Public Works Meeting at Halton Region where we discussed option 4.3, there was also a presentation by the Greater Toronto Area Agricultural Action Committee. I took the opportunity to ask their representative, Janet Horner, if the GTA West team had consulted with the GTA AAC. To my absolute astonishment, she said no. And then she emphasized the word NO!
Think about it. The GTA West corridor from Vaughn to Tremaine Road in Milton runs almost exclusively through farmland, most of it the very best farmland in Canada. The GTA West consulting team was charged with the responsibility of consulting with all affected parties. And they didn't ask the farmers! Of course the 300 residents who came out to the meeting on June 23rd at Glencairn Golf Course all felt that they had not been consulted either and they live in the path of the highway.
But really, not consulting with the farming community is so unacceptable it is beyond belief. It was only a couple of months ago that I attended a GTA AAC Farming Summit that was very well run and very well attended. It was sponsored by the Government and yet they same Government didn't consult with them.
If you read the EA report you will find a glib statement that in the design of the highway, impacts to agriculture will be mitigated. How do traffic engineers have any idea of what to mitigate if they didn't even talk to the farmers who will be affected?

Regional Councillors support Halton Hills Position on GTA West Highway 4.3

Halton Regional Staff Report responding to the GTA West Corridor recommendations was supportive of option 4.2 that brings the proposed 400 series highway north /south beside Heritage Road and then swings into Halton Hills to join the 407 - 401 Interchange. However, the report was ambivalent concerning the proposed additional leg of this highway known as alternative 4.3 that would run east/west somewhere between Georgetown and Steeles Avenue.
In my mind, this was not a time for ambivalence. In consultation with Mayor Bonnette and Regional Councillor Clark Somerville we wrote an amendment to the report that in my opinion was more in keeping with the Region's Official Plan and the newly endorsed Strategic Plan.
The Strategic Plan was crafted with the input of many Halton Residents particularly the Citizen's Refernce Panel. Input from a wide variety of sources confirmed more or less the the vision that was already articulated in the Official Plan.
To quote from the Amendment " the Strategic Plan says "the Region's vision is to preserve for the current and future generations a landscape that is rich, diverse, balanced, productive and sustainable and a society that is economically strong, equitable and caring. The Region must plan for communities where urban sprawl is minimized, where infrastructure is maximized, where natural heritage is protected and natural spaces and farmland are preserved. the overall goal is to enhance the quality of life for all people of Halton today and into the future".

"This vision will be very difficult if not impossible to maintain if alternative 4.3 is approved since the proposed route essentially bisects the agricultural area of halton Hills, thus fragmenting farms and making the industry much more difficult to sustain."

"There is a serious concern that alternative 4.3 will encourage urban sprawl. Measures to protect against urban sprawl were not articulated in the Draft Transportation Development strategy report."

"Alternative 4.3 which bisects the agricultural area south of Georgetown would pose an extremely serious blow to agricultural sustainability in Halton, would threaten the open-space character and landscape heritage of Halton and is therefore contrary to the goals in the official plan and Halton's vision for a sutainable future. For those reasons Halton cannot support alternative route 4.3."

All of the above was incorporated into the recommendation and was endorsed unanimously by the members of the Planning and Public Works Committee. The next hurdle is to have the recommendation endorsed at Regional Council next Wednesday morning.

Gaining unequivical support for the Halton Hills position from Regional Council is absolutely critical to our strategy to stop this highway and get it taken off the map. It is a great relief to have achieved unanimous support at the committee level as it means that we have support from all Halton local municipalities. It gives me confidence that we will also get a ringing endorsement at Council.

It is but one step in our fight against this highway, but it is an important one. I am very grateful to my Regional colleagues for their support today.

Canadian Road Cycling Championships a huge success in Downtown Georgetown

Women's Elite at the starting line

Crowds line Main Street in Downtown Georgetown

Men's elite racers cresting the Park Street Hill

The Canadian Road Cycling Championships and Festival were a big hit with the cheering crowds that gathered all along the 1.1 km Criterium course in Downtown Georgetown in Halton Hills, Ontario today. The crowds were treated to many thilling moments as the cyclists flew around the tight corners whilst jockying for position.

Downtown Georgetown was transformed into a first class cycling venue that was a delight to the eye. Colourful banners, tents  and flags along with the brilliant floral displays added to the ambiance. The riders themselves were no less colourful in their club livery.

I was very proud of the warm reception that Halton Hills gave to these athletes and their families from across Canada. There was a friendly and welcoming spirit in the air. The Halton Hills staff did a wonderful job in making this such a successful event. A great deal of planning went into making things run smoothly. We are blessed to have so many enthusiastic and accommodating people working for the Town. And I can't say enough about the over 75 volunteers who committed their Sunday to making this a great event.

Canadian Road Cycling Championships coming to Georgetown on Sunday June 26 2011

The Canadian Road Cycling Champions are running over an 11 day period in a variety of venues around Halton and Peel. Pictured above is a triumphant Clara Hughes who made a stunning comeback into the sport of cycling by winning the Women's Elite Race with a time of 30.25 yesterday in Bellfountain.

The Criterium Races will be held in downtown Georgetown on Sunday June 26th starting at 12:00pm. Perhaps fans will  have an opportunity to see Clara in action right here in town. Local cyclist and new resident of Georgetown, Heather Logan-Sprenger is confirmed as a participant in Sunday's Race. Heather moved to Georgetown about 18 months ago and races internationally for Team Colivita. She is a former member of the Canadian National Women's Hockey Team. It will be exciting to see such an outstanding athlete perform in her new home town.

The Criterium Races are for both Men and Women and are both National and Ontario Provincial Championship races.

Although the Cycling Championships are organized by the Midweek Cycling Club of Toronto, they have been working with a local organizing committee that has recruited 70 volunteers to man the barricades. Also, the committee has organized a Cycling Festival that will be fun for the whole family. There is a Youth Cycling Skills Challenge, a BMX demonstration by Joyride 150 of Markham and helmet fitting and safety information from the North Halton Injury Prevention Group. Participant prizes have been donated by Canadian Tire.

As part of the Race Schedule there will be a special kids race for ages 3 to 12 at 3:30 pm.

All participants in races and festival activities must have parental permission.

The Festival activities will begin at 11am in the Back Street Parking Lot and run until 3pm.

Streets surrounding the downtown area will be closed to traffic and so riding a bike to this event is highly recommended. Two bike parking areas will be operated by local service clubs.

More information can be found on the town's website www.haltonhills.ca/cyclingchampionship.