DRY CLEANING SAM DAY DAY 8770387 HALTON HILLS SHOPPING CENTRE a HERALD SECTION Wednesday April Election report Major party candidates discuss their backgrounds By ROBIN BAKEWELL Herald Staff When NDP candidate Doug Hamilton entered the political scien ce course at the University of Waterloo he had no long term goals of running a political election Now two years after receiving his four year degree in the course Mr Hamilton is the Halton Burlington New Democratic Party choice for the riding With ten years political Involvement In the Mr Hamilton Is no stranger to party philosophies or campaign trails Born at Milton District Hospital in 1957 Mr Hamilton grew up in and around the Halton area He attended public schools in Milton ana Erin finishing his forma education at Ancoster High School It was In 1975 during his final year In Grade 13 at High that Mr Hamilton had his first taste of politics Previous to Mr Hamilton said he had a fair bit of interest in the sparked by their Interest In people over business and the fact that he believed the had concerns about the average person which the other parties were losing H Grade 13 teacher was running as the candidate In the North riding during he 1975 provincial election and Mr Hamilton helped out In the campaign by dropping off party 1 1 era lure One thing that appealed to me about the 1975 provincial campaign Is that while the Liberal and PC parties were bashing each other and making attacks Stephen Lewis was talking about health and safety equality and people rights Those were the type of Issues which were getting lost in the hardball politics the other two parties were playing Mr Hamilton said During the provincial election Mr Hamilton helped with literature distribution and did scrutineer work A member of the election planning committee during Ihe 1980 federal elect Ian in Mr Hamilton said he helped organize quite a successful campaign The candidate has worked in a shopping mall painted and has worked In unionized factor on a short term basis Mr Hamilton said he sees unions as a valuable part of Canadian society which can work to make the workplace more democratic He said some of the concerns the unions have raised such as health and safety have been socially valid In the summer of 1979 Mr Hamilton was employed as a researcher with the Burlington Social Planning Council He was hired to research a planning act and help with proposed changes to the act based on a white paper from the Ontario government He said working in conjunction with the government was quite useful and gave him a realistic Idea of how the government operates which he fell could not be understood through reading books In university The youngest in a family of two brothers and three sisters Mr Hamilton said the large family mode him more aware of other people Interests and was able to tune Into different Ideas easier Although none of them have ever ran for anything they are very opinionated and we have some Interesting conversations he said His father Jack who Is now retired worked In the retail field for the United Cooperatives which Mr Hamilton explained was a farming organization He said his father was never really politically active except for a stint as a scrutineer the CCF parly in 1940 Mr Hamilton said he enjoys playing squash and hockey He has recently split the cost of season Blue Jay tickets with a number of friends for summer entertainment It only took Mr Hamilton a couple of days to moke a decision to become the candidate in May election riding president Jo made the suggestion to him last fall In last year 1 ve become more and more interested in the parly and thought it was a good opportunity to try It I don t know whether I deliver bam blazing speeches but I think I have something to offer he said On a personal level Mr Hamilton said the campaign will give him the opportunity to work w th people and meet others which he said he enjoys and talk about things of some Import An editor at Legal Publications In Toronto since 1981 Mr Hamilton has had a variety of summer work experience while attending school PETE POMEROY By AN Herald Staff For Peter Pomeroy home will always be The year old Burlington Progressive Conservative candidate has lived in since bis mom brought him home as a babe from Bramptons Peel Memorial Hospital Although he loves travelling and would like to see Australia Japan China and Europe Mr would never stay away from for very long This Is home You can narrow down further If you want to 111 never move from This Is home he repeated strongly Mr a dad came to in the 1920s from Gore Landing a community on the shores or Rice Lake just north Port Hope The senior worked at th Bank to It closed the David Vance Pour Winds Galleries on ffighWay7ndWlitonetaThuJBoulvrd Marrying during he depression Peter dad eventually ended up work working it at the Price Fine Papers company until retiring office lanagerai untureu He was very Mr said proudly A lot of people support because of my father Today the senior Is and be end his wife live In Gore a Landing Although their parents have moved away Pete and Ms brother BUI still live and work In Hills Their sister Marion live In Toronto not too far away As children the three attended Norval Community School which was a tworoom school back then During his years there Peter Pomeroy was busy taking voice lessons and collecting medals for his singing His solo singing won him prizes at several music festivals Mr said he gave It all up when his voice changed I still have the medals a regional taken attar Urn In groups on many In fact Peter would like to do some singing with her during his current campaign Besides singing Mr was also into hockey during his Norval Community School days He played left wing on the Hornets team when he was bantamaged Under coach Rev Leo Self the team collected wins from neighboring teams Mr Pomeroy said Rev his life He was very competitive He stressed fairness and being the best you could be as well as winning Mr said Also mfloenciog the politician life was the first boss Mr had after graduating from Georgetown District High School He was an absolute perfectionist 111 never forget This guy was incredible leave anything unless it done perfectly Mr said bated it I thought I was going to quit every other day but it turned out to be good for me Mr said That Bell Canada turned Into a year career which Mr left to stt up his own Sports The name was later changed to North Sports limited and sold to a employee 13 years later I was mayor when North Sports had become almost too much to do la operate the business and the town effectively Mr Pomeroy said Elected a Halton Hills councillor In 1876 he has moved from mayor to regional chairman for The opportunities for political advance ment they come and go Mr Pomeroy said I fee I ready now and can do much more to prepare myself to be MPP Politics is like a different Job every day The problems and opportunities are different on a dally basis Mr said It s a big part of the reason I like it as much as I do Currently regional chairman Mr Pomeroy came into the Job from the position of Hills mayor I the first politician in my he smiled It all just happened to me very quickly He a hoping his eight year training period will now launch him into the provincial legists lure I have no aspirations for federal politics at all That why I went to Queen a Park because It close enough to travel to from home back and forth Mr said Hit is Harry Truman because ha had a very honest and straight forward approach In resolving problems Mr saw Sometimes the challenges of politics take lime and the waiting can bo frustrating whan a simple issue be said By DAVE Herald Staff As the family story goes Liberal candidate Don Knight can trace his background to 1610 when his Quaker ancesters were wine cfynts and mariners from Ireland Mr Knight will be pounding the pavement in the weeks ahead asking for the support of Halton Burlington residents on May 2 The Knights Quaker ancesters traded their Some immigrated to Wales and others eventually made the crossing to North America Mr Knight grandfather is a Quaker but his father la an Anglican The candidate Is a Presbyterian The Knight family have lived in Meaford for three generations His grandfather started a family business called Stanley Knight Ltd a manufacturer of hardwood flooring During his ch Mr Knight rememb ers hs family always beng strong Liberal supporters One uncle almost ran as provincial Liberal candidate he said D iring his childhood In Meaford with the escarpment cliffs and Georgian Bay waters so close Mr Knight loved to hike and collect Hems from his nature walks Growing up in a small town of A the candidate said It was an advantage because knowing everyone Inspired selfconfidence plus it was hard to get into trouble without anyone knowing about It In high school he played volleyball basket ball and won two gold medals for middle distance running at the Central Western Ontario champion ships His f rst political involvement was at age 13 when he was paid to pick up a list from the scrutineers and go to various polling stations Mr Knight went to the University of Waterloo to lake their engineering course because he liked math and sciences In high school After spending three months on a work term during his coop training he decided It would be nice to be making money full time rather than going back for more studies He walked Into Waterloo Trust and Savings Canada Trust and was hired on spot he said Mr Knight left there to become a manager trainee Zellers helping to manage stores In and Ottawa He was lured away to Kitchener to a private investigation f now called Equifax where he checked out insurance claims After a year he was promoted to manage their Stratford office He left the firm In to go back to university in Kitchener Doing odd Jobs to pay his way through school Mr Knight came within two courses of completing an economics degree Mr Knight hen took a Job in Toronto with Traveler s Insurance as an Insurance adjuster Staying there until 1979 he was promoted to sor of property claims and then as assistant manager of their cla ms department in He was commissioned in 1979 to write a claims manual for their computer program Realizing it was a time for a career change he started Knight Insurance Brokers building up the business In Milton for the next six years He sold the business last month for a price thai has left me comfortable he said He plans to enter the consulting field helping insurance brokers with their businesses The candidate remarried In 1973 having met his second wife at university when he was tnk courses for his They have tine son Geoff 9 who has a number of talents his father said His daughter Kelly Is married and lives In London her husband and year old son Another daughter Barbara lives at home and is taking a course In social services at Sheridan College Mr Knight has been a town councillor in M Hon for the past live years He said the committee meetings and preparation work have kept him busy along with coaching a baseball team and hiking with his family n IBM PC Junior How does Mr Knight describe himself I haven lot of Interests I like people and relate well to them he said A personality test by Traveler Insurance Company described him as amiable analytical wilh a 1 igh degree of empathy and flexibility he said A Herald psychic columnist called him honest straight forward and caring for his fellow man He called lhat character assessment very perceptive Council meetings to be taped Herald Staff The region commit tee and council meetings may be available on tape In future if regional councillors support a lequest by Burlington Mayor Bird today Wednesday Lost week while roundly chastising the regions chief strative officer and the medio Burlington mayor asked that committee and council meetings be toped Coun Bird request got the support of administration and finance committee members They agreed to have health and social ser vices planning and public works administration and finance solid waste management commit tecs and council meet ings tape recorded and the tapes kept for days before being erased The administration and finance committee also agreed that the regional clerk would provide typed scripts or excerpts from these tapes if councillors asked for them in writ As well councillors agreed that the tapes could be listened to by councillors themedlaor the public if a written request is made of the regional clerk On the suggestion of Halton Hills Mike Armstrong regional staff are going to look into a more reliable tap ing system than the present one Taping t always pick up things at the far end of the table very clearly Chiof Administrative Officer Dennis Perl In said Coun Bird said tapes would help to verify reports made by the In the past I would venture to say that almost every member of council has had a complaint with the meufo for misinterpret or still worse in accurately reporting on statements by elected members of council Coun Bird said Mr if transcripts are requested of the secre tary tapes there may be sections where the tape quality is poor I want lo be the source of something that t accurate What I saying is if you re going to do something do It right he said F1 50 PICKUP FINAL WEEKI PRICE 1985 BUSTING OUri FRONT WITH BEST BUILT NORTH AMERICAN QUALITY AND OUR BEST DEALS DRIVE TODAY TO OUR LOW OVERHEAD PRICES 1 Guelph St Georgetown Comm Gualpri 8731626 Tour Best I HAVE YOU DRIVEN A FORDLATELY