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m m m Sunday, May 16, 1999 Oakville Beaver Weekend P ro v in c ia l c a n d id a te s g rille d o n lo ca l is s u e s By Kim Arnott SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Health care and education are being touted as the big issues of the provin­ cial election campaign, but at an Oakville all-candidates meeting, the discussion centred on issues closer to home. At the Thursday night meeting, hosted by the Oakville Chamber of Commerce, the four candidates running to represent Oakville were grilled on whether Syl Apps should be privatized, how property taxes should be assessed, what services should be paid for by the municipal taxpayer and what they think should be done about the traffic grid­ lock surrounding the town. Oakville Chamber of Commerce president Doug Watson expressed con­ cern about the impact the daily high­ way traffic jam is having on Oakville's ability to attract new businesses and retain the ones it has. "Wasting time in traffic jams is not good business," he noted. "This is a cri- O n ta r io V O T E S sis." While Tory MPP Gary Carr suggest­ ed the completion of Hwy. 407 north of Oakville and Burlington would solve the problem, the other three candidates advocated more radical solutions to the problem. Building new roads can't be the only approach, said NDP candidate Sean Cain, because more roads simply S u m m e r a t S c h le g e l' s Registration for Summer *99 1/2 Day Camp E lfi S ch leg e l Our N a t io n a lly q u a lif ie d , m a tu re coaching staff and sp e c ia lly d e s ig n e d fa c ility ensure your child's learning is both pleasurable and safe. Boys & Girls 9am-Noon or I-4pm July 5 - August 27 S e s s io n I - J u ly 5 - 9 S e s s io n 2 - J u ly 1 2 - 1 6 S e s s io n 3 - J u ly 19 - 2 3 I S e s s io n 4 - J u ly 2 6 - 3 0 S e s s io n 5 ' - A u g u s t 3 - 6 S e s s io n 6 - A u g u s t 9 - 13 S e s s io n 7 - A u g u s t 1 6 - 2 0 S e s s io n 8 - A u g u s t 2 3 - 2 7 * N o M onday classes Kindercamp Boys & Girls 2-5 years of age T u e s d a y & T h u r s d a y o r s M o n d a y & W e d n e s d a y 9 : 3 0 - 1 1 :3 0 a m o r l : 3 0 - 3 : 3 0 p m 2 20 W ye c ro ft R o a d 8 4 2 -ELFS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ U n i t 5 2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ( 8 4 2 - 3 5 3 7 ) encourage more commuters. "The real solution to this problem is to invest in public transportation," he said, noting it is also a cleaner and more cost-effective approach. Liberal Kevin Flynn argued that the construction of Hwy. 407 and widening of the QEW will hardly ease the congestion, given the growth anticipated for the Oakville area. "We have a crisis in trans­ portation right now, and no one level of government can afford to solve it on its own," he said. "Transportation is the lifeblood of the GTA. If transportation comes to a stop, so does the economy." While he believes all three levels of government must cooperate to solve the problem, Flynn also mused philosophical­ ly on the rapid expansion of Oakville and surrounding com­ munities. "Are we able to sustain the type of growth we're seeing in this area?" he questioned. "Are we allowing too many people to live in a finite area?" His concerns were echoed by Adrian Ratelle, who is running for the Family Coalition Party. "We really need to question our assumption that bigger is better," said Ratelle, who said that new roads would encourage growth like what has been seen in Mississauga. "Is that what we really want?" A local resident in the audi­ ence, who noted that the Tory government has already priva­ tized one young offender facili­ ty in Hamilton, asked candidates whether they would favor the privatization of other facilities like Syl Apps. She found the candidates divided on the issue, with Carr and Ratelle in favor of privatiza­ tion. "Correctional facilities have the worst labor-management relations in the entire public ser­ vice," said Carr, who added that the government will continue with privatization, including plans to open three of the new 'super-jails' as facilities run by the private sector. Ratelle said he believes we need to give privatization a (See 'Candidates' page 4) A to u c e g a n c e K I N G S L E Y - B A T E E leg an t O u td o o r F u rn itu re in S o lid T eak Shown: The Hampton Dining Group Discover the elegance of our Kingsley Bate solid teak collection. 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