The Newly Elected Council Term of Council Will Soon Begin

Now that the Provincially wide Municipal elections are over it will soon be time for the newly elected council to begin. I was very humbled to receive an acclamation this election year. There were many changes throughout the Province of Ontario. Some municipalities will have completely new councils. Ask anyone who was elected they will tell you there is a certain learning curve to the job of a councillor or Mayor.

I congratulate the Acton councillors, Jon Hurst, Mike O'Leary and Clark Somerville on their acclamations as well. Also a congratulations to Jane Fogal, Bob Inglis, Moya Johnson, Dave Kentner, Joan Robson, Bryan Lewis for their solid victories in the election. Ann Lawlor is the one new voice on council. Ann ran an excellent campaign and Ann will be no stranger around the council chamber as she has worked on many community projects and committees over the years. John Duncan was not returned and I will miss is business attitude and of course his Irish humour.

In the next week or so I Will be meeting with the councillors elect to see what committees they are interested in serving also to get their ideas as well as what they may have heard while door knocking.

I personally feel we have a strong council. The election results have proved that the public supports them as they all got re-elected by wide margins with the exception of John Duncan.

The Halton District Catholic School Board has elected Mark Rowe. Mark grew up in Acton, raised his family in the Glen and taught in Georgetown. He will do a fine job.

The Halton District School Board voted to reduce their Halton Hills trustees from having two to just having one. Gillian Tuck Kutarna was elected. This last term board decision of school boards made decision which caused a lot of havoc. The HDCSB cancelled many buses in Georgetown South. They had public meetings but neither Save Our Buses or myself speaking on behalf of the Town could convince the Trustees to change their minds. The Public School Board never gave a chance to have this debated as they approved the cancelling of the buses in one night. Plus they put 2.62 acres of land at MSB School in Acton for sale. 5000 names on a petition could not convince these trustees that this was a big mistake.

Very interesting to note many of the trustees throughout Halton were wiped out at the polls. Some thought it would be best to run regionally. Big mistake as they were demolished at the polls. Councillor Jeff Knoll in Oakville and Councillor Rick Craven gave their opponents ( both Public School Board trustees ) a severe spanking.
Hopefully there will be lessons learned at the board. The now have many new faces and a new Super Intendent. Lets hope they can turn this around and we at the Towns have a positive relationship.

Halloween in Halton Hills

Every year Halloween is celebrated on October 31st and Halton Hills is no different. Starting tonight ( Thursday ) Friday night and Saturday night the Acton Scouts will be having a fun house at the Acton Scout Hall. They really put a lot of effort so if you are around Acton please drop by for a really ghoulish time.

Both the Acton and Georgetown Business Improvement Areas will also have their ghost walk. Georgetown is on in the morning. Most of the stores if not all of them will be shelling out candy to the kids. It is a sight to see all of kids in the their costumes walking up and down Main St.

In Acton the ghost walk is in the afternoon with a prizes for the best costumes at 2:00 pm. My wife Josey and I will be in costume as we do every year. Lets see if you can recognize us.

Parents bring your kids out and have a safe Halloween.

Halton Hills Votes

Today in Ontario, Canada voters are going to the polls to vote for their Mayors and councillors who will represent them for the next four years. Sometimes we do take democracy for granted. I have been privileged to get an acclamation. I am truly humbled by it. There are still elections going on in three of the four wards as well as races for both separate and public school boards.

The polls close at 8pm. The weather is good so I hope you take the time to exercise your freedom and vote.

Georgetown's Knox Presbyterian Church celebrates 150 Years

On behalf of Council for the Town of Halton Hills it was my pleasure to be part of the Georgetown's Knox Presbyterian Church celebration. And what a celebration it was. They celebrated 150 years of service in Georgetown. The reception was held at North Halton Golf Course in Georgetown, Halton Hills.

Worship in our community helps develop community spirit, promotes a common culture and shared values amongst the young and old. This congregation has enriched many lives through worship, social and cultural activities.

Throughout its 150 years, this church and its parishioners have seen plenty of adversity. In 1901 there was a huge fire in the church. As it is today as it was back then the Georgetown firefighters played a key role in saving the church. There was still significant damage in the church. The church elders were smart as they had insurance which replaced the carpet and repaired the damages.

Another challenge of the church was in 1918 when the Spanish flu hit. This was a flu which killed many world wide. The Church was closed from October until late January. That is when the Christmas service was held. They even told the kids that Santa Claus had a bad flu but he is okay now.

All the challenges which this church and it's parishioners faced help bond and build the strong foundation within the community today. I told the congregation headed by Dr. Rev. Jim Cooper at the celebration that is a time to reflect the rich history, and be assured that your forefathers would be very proud of them to celebrate this rich heritage that has enriched the Town of Halton Hills.

Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette launches Children’s eBook

In collaboration with ePublisher eBookGuides4Life.com, The Georgetown Hospital Foundation Board and Mayor Rick Bonnette invite you to one of the area’s first ever eBook Launch Events!

www.goonsharoon.com

Tuesday November 9th, 2010
Open House 6:30pm – 8:30pm; Presentation at 7:30pm
The Club at North Halton, 363 Maple Avenue West, Georgetown, Ontario, L7G 4S5

In attendance to help celebrate will be The Georgetown Hospital Foundation Board, Author Mayor Rick Bonnette, ePublishers Christine Maiorano and Lori King of eBookGuides4Life.com, Illustrator Tamara Talbot and Editor Nancy Kovacs. There will be an unveiling of the main character “Goon Sharoon”.

“The Incredible Adventures of Goon Sharoon” is a fun and lively Children’s eBook about a gentle giant’s exciting adventures and how he created many of earth’s natural wonders and geographical features. This colourful eBook is perfect for school-aged children everywhere because it meshes a fun tale with knowledge of places all around the world. The main character is charming, never scary, has an appetite for cherry pies and is a little daft when it comes to using his brains.

Rick Bonnette first wrote this eBook as a grade six assignment. The first two chapters were the actual story that was handed in. Rick’s love of entertaining children lead him to add more chapters in 1997. At the time of ePublication, Rick Bonnette is the Mayor for the Town of Halton Hills, in Ontario, Canada.
Rick Bonnette will donate his proceeds to the Georgetown Hospital Foundation as his way of giving back to his community.

“We are thrilled that Mayor Bonnette has chosen to ePublish this terrific children’s eBook as a fundraising opportunity for Georgetown Hospital,” says Foundation Chair Laurent Thibault, “we are lucky to have such an exceptional Hospital in our own backyard and community support like this is what keeps the Hospital strong.”

Georgetown Hospital relies on community support to fund top priority medical equipment. Currently the Foundation is raising funds to purchase a Critical Care Ventilator, Blood Gas Analyzer, a Glidescope for difficult incubation's and other equipment for our surgical program, in-patient care and diagnostic imaging.

Come out to the eBook launch on November 9th, 2010 to purchase your copy of “The Incredible Adventures of Goon Sharoon”, or visit www.eBookGuides4Life.com on or after November 9th, 2010.

Acton Scouts Celebrate 100 Years

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Acton 1st Scout Organization. On Saturday there was a celebration with the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers and Rovers.

The 1st Acton Scout Group started in the fall of 1910 when Mr. Stock attended a Town Council meeting to ask for permission to start a Boy Scout Troop. Council granted permission and Bayden Powell's movement came to Acton.

We are very proud of the contributions that the 1st Acton Scout Group has made to our community over the past 100 years and also recognize the tremendous dedication and efforts for the many volunteers to make scouting happen. Volunteering is rewarding and valuable experience that helps build self confidence: discover strengths and talents; develop independence; and learn new skills. I personally thanked all of the troop leaders for their years of service. Scout masters across Canada help mold boys into young responsible men. Scouts learn the skills of survival, first aid, tying various knots and many other real life experiences. The leadership skills will something that will stay with these young boys their whole life.

On Saturday there was an old fashion barbecue, skill games etc. Long time Scout master George Henderson presided over the ceremonies. Many formers scouts were also present including David Dills who was a scout in 1939. Bill Dawkins and Bill Spielvogel were from the fifties, I was a cub in 1962. Many other former scouts and cubs were on hand.


David Dills unveiled the special 100th anniversary crest. The weather cooperated and over all it was fine kick off to celebrate 100 years of scouting in Acton.

Pat Burns Burned by Hall of Fame Selectors

Former National Hockey League coach Pat Burns has been burned by the National Hockey League in my opinion. Its been well documented the enormous struggle he has had battling cancer. Last year there was a push to see Pat Burns inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Pat Burns has coached in the N.H.L. for 14 seasons.I for one agree that he should be inducted. Let his record speak for itself.

Burns began his N.H.L. coaching career with the Montreal Canadiens in 1988. His career ended in New Jersey in 2005. He won the Stanley Cup in 2003 coaching the New Jersey Devils. He won the Jack Adams Award ( award for best coach ) in 1989 coaching Montreal, in 1993 coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs and won it for the third time in 1998 coaching the Boston Bruins. That is three times he had won this award and is the only coach in National Hockey League history to win this prestigious award three times. He took the Montreal Canadiens to the cup final. He also twice took the Leafs to semi finals which is something Cup starved Leaf fans still lament not winning but the Leafs surprised many teams during those two cup runs.

Burns was diagnosed with colon cancer and then liver cancer in 2005. Now the cancer has gone to his lungs. Watching the news, you can see that he is just a shadow of himself. There were reports last month that he had died. Leave it to Burns who called out to a local network and urged them to get the story straight. " I am alive. "

He was honoured in Stanstead ( Quebec Eastern Townships ) with a new arena named after the coach.

Last March there was a Fan based Facebook campaign launched to get him in the Hockey Hall of Fame on the merits of his coaching record. They attracted 71,000 names for support of Pat Burns. This attempt fell on deaf ears of the N.H.L. elite as Burns was not inducted into the Hall of Fame. The N.H.L. blew this one.

One day he will be inducted but it will be too late for Pat to bask in the glory.

Halton Hills is a Youth Friendly Community

The Town of Halton Hills was officially recognized as a Youth Friendly Community at a presentation ceremony held at Queen's Park on Monday October 4th,2010. This is a prestigious award for our community and I give kudos to our Mayor's Youth Action Committee ( MYAC ) for perseverance in getting this award.

Halton Hills is one of only 6 municipalities being honored that night. There is only about 32 communities out of 440 in Ontario to have this designation. There are 16 criteria to be reached and we reached 12. Myself and Councillor Moya Johnson were on hand for the ceremony presided by the Honourable Margaret Best, Minister of Health Promotions.


Being awarded a youth friendly community is a great testimony to know that so many initiatives Council supported over the past few terms around youth engagement have been right on the mark.

Councillor Johnson also noted " engaging youth in shaping our community is not only important for youth, it is important to all of us as they will be the leaders of tomorrow. "

The best speaker of all of the Youth Awards was are own Chair of MYAC Zuha Khan. She stated, "I believe that the Town of Halton Hills is a youth friendly community, because they are always proud of their youth's efforts and manage to encourage, support, congratulate and celebrate every achievement."

There were many of our MYAC members there and they did us proud wearing their bright red MYAC shirts. They looked like a team. All members of council are proud of our MYAC committee!

Juno Award Winner David Usher Plants Trees in Halton Hills

Saturday was a special day for Halton Hills as Juno Award singer David Usher joined many volunteers to plant trees in Cedarvale Park in Georgetown. The morning tree planting was organized by a local environmental group Protect Our Water and Environmental Resources ( P.O.W.E.R. ). Tree Canada ( Trees by the Shore ) was represented by Ed Borczon. We know trees are the lungs of the world. This was a great partnership between Majesta, Tree Canada, P.O.W.E.R. and the Town.



Let me tell you a bit about some of these programs. Trees by the Shore is a program sponsored by Tree Canada. This is a charitable organization established to encourage Canadians to plant and care for trees in urban and rural settings. Trees by the Shore have planted over 74,000 trees in Canada over the last two years. Majesta Brand is privately owned company committed to North America and the environment. They are part of the Irving Forest Products, a company that employs over 8,400 people in North America. All Majesta products are made in Canada and come with a Tree Planting Promise : "To plant trees for every one used to produce Majesta products."

David Usher addressed the crowd. The popular Montrealer spoke very passionately about the environment and he did go out and plant trees with many of the volunteers. It was a family morning activity. We are pleased to see him lend his support to such an important cause.

This was the 50th event of the program in Georgetown. Halton Hills welcomes David Usher to our community in the Year of Biological Diversity.