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6 Acton/Georgetown, Friday, August 10, 2007 OPINION Get informed On October 10 Ontarians will be asked to make TWO important choices. The first will determine which party will govern our province for the next four years. There has been-- and will continue to be-- no shortage of news coverage and information available to voters to make an informed choice on which candidates to support. However, there will also be a second ballot for a referendum on election reform. The referendum is an historic event as the current electoral system has been in place since 1792. Research, conducted by the firm Ipsos Reid, however, indicates that a majority of Ontarians are unaware that a referendum will be held. Among those who are aware, most claim they know little, if anything about how the process is going to unfold and what choice they are being asked to make. Now is the time to become informed. Electors will be asked to consider the following: which electoral system should Ontario use to elect members to the provincial legislature? Ontarians will, in essence, have two options: · The existing "first-past-the-post" system which awards the riding to the candidate with the most votes and often results in a party forming a majority government with less than 50 per cent of the popular vote. · Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) is a system that combines members elected in local districts and members elected for the whole province from party lists. Seats are distributed based roughly on each party's share of the popular vote. The Ontario Citizens Assembly, a group of 103 randomly selected citizens from across Ontario, was established in 2004 to study provincial electoral reform and last spring supported MMP as a more democratic way of electing MPPs-- thus the need for a referendum. At least 60 per of all voters and 50 per cent of voters in 64 electoral districts will have to support MMP for it to be adopted. More information is available through Elections Ontario at 1-888-ONT-VOTE (668-8683) or the referendum website www.yourbigdecision.ca. We urge all voters to learn more about this important choice that will be before them in less than nine weeks. www.independentfreepress.com Phone: 905-873-0301 Fax: 905-873-0398 Steve Nease STAFF DIRECTORY Publisher Ken Nugent Advertising director Steve Foreman (sforeman@independentfreepress.com) Retail advertising manager Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@independentfreepress.com) Managing editor John McGhie (jmcghie@independentfreepress.com) Distribution manager Nancy Geissler (distribution@independentfreepress.com) ADVERTISING Advertising co-ordinator Jennifer Christie (jchristie@independentfreepress.com) Retail Sales: Jennifer Spencer (jspencer@independentfreepress.com) Adam Spinney (aspinney@independentfreepress.com) Andrew Key (akey@independentfreepress.com) Amy Sykes (features@independentfreepress.com) Real estate: Sue Spizziri (realestate@independentfreepress.com) Classifieds: Kristie Pells (classified@independentfreepress.com) ACCOUNTING Rose Marie Gauthier, Michelle Wimmer EDITORIAL Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@independentfreepress.com) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@independentfreepress.com) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@independentfreepress.com) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@independentfreepress.com) PRODUCTION: Mary Lou Foreman, Kevin Powell, Shelli Harrison, Dolores Black, Debbie MacDougall LETTERS TO THE EDITOR We should `speak up' to fight racism Dear editor, When I moved to Georgetown from Scarborough four years ago, I was shocked by the racial "slurs" I overheard everywhere. In addition, whenever I told people I had just moved here from Scarborough, I was usually asked. "Weren't you scared?" or "Aren't you glad you live here now, you know, less crime etc?" Those questions always surprised me since I had never encountered any problems. Last year my husband and I went to watch a reggae band in Cedarvale Park after the Day of Diversity march. We met wonderful people, ate delicious food and across the stage hung a banner with the word " "PEACE" in all different languages. Isn't that what it's really all about? To you, Amber (letter to the editor Aug. 8) I would like to say I feel ashamed that this happened to you in this town. I also feel ashamed that I sometimes stayed silent when I should've said something. Things do really need to change and we have to speak up. Silke Le Messurier, Georgetown Something bugging you? Send us a letter! Letters to the editor must include an address and daytime telephone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 200 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1 E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Musicians thanked for donation of time Business thanked for `extreme generosity' to Homecoming Dear editor, The paint looked wonderful and I Dear editor, The Homecoming 2007 committee is very pleased with how our weekend events turned out. A great time was had by all. We are particularly grateful to the six live bands (all Georgetown folk) that played for us at the dance. Not only are they talented, but they are excellent representatives of our town. In order to raise the maximum that we could for our Library expansion plans, we asked all the bands to donate their time. All six of them said yes! We will have the financial results in shortly, but clearly the weekend was a big success in every way. Thank you to all the musicians who came together to give us the party of a lifetime! Neil Cotton, Co-Chair Homecoming 2007 Ted Brown recently wrote a column on doing acts of kindness for others. I took note of that column and thought how nice it was. Well, I recently had an incredible act of kindness and generosity done for me. I took my old Brit police car to Riteway Auto Body on Armstrong Avenue a while ago and I asked Paul Foreman if he could fix it up a little for me. He asked me to leave the car with him. Some time later I went back and saw that his body man had removed some metal from the front fenders and replaced it with new. I took the car down to the Classics Against Cancer show which I have done now for 18 of the 20 years it has been running. Paul asked me to return the car the following Monday which I did. When I returned some two weeks later the car was completely repainted front to back and top to bottom. She was beautiful. THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS The Independent & Free Press is published every Wednesday and Friday at 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown Ont., L7G 4B1. It is one of several newspapers published by Metroland Media Group Ltd. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for signature will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the acceptable rate. In the event of typographical error advertising goods or services at wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell which may be withdrawn at any time. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Price: Store copies 50¢ each; Subscriptions $26 per year by carrier; $92.50 per year by mail in Canada; $130 per year in all other countries. Plus G.S.T. Second Class Mail Registration Number 6869. The Independent & Free Press is a member of The Canadian Community Newspaper Association and The Ontario Community Newspaper Association. could tell Bruce had spent a little extra time cleaning her up. When I asked Paul how much I owed him he told me this was his contribution. I asked what he meant and he told me that because I used the car for fundraising for charities and many community events there would be no charge. Needless to say I was flabbergasted at this demonstration of extreme generosity. Several people I have told in town have remarked that this is community spirit at it's best and, even though I am the recipient of this kindness, I must agree. Thank you Paul and all your staff in the shop for doing such a wonderful job for me. I shall show her off with a little more pride and not a little humility knowing what a great community this is with folks like Paul and his men to share it with. John Tatham, the English Bobby, Georgetown