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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-12-09, Page 38S Ei ECTRIC. I ROBY' Serving Goderich & Area Since 2004 • Residential • Commercial • Industrial • Agricultural. CM: Master Lic.# 6006558 ECRA/ESA 7004869 Fully Insured Guaranteed Work FOR A FREE ESTIMATE CALL MATT 1117-4 519-440-6079 SENIOR'S DISCOUNT 1I Page 38 Goderich Signal -Star Wednesday December 9, 2009 Reform party seeks representatives to field in 2011 election Cheryl Heath signal -star publishing The Reform Party is alive and well. And now it is seeking new recruits to field in Ontario's next election, anticipated in 2011. Party leader Brad Harness, an Ailsa Craig - based newspaper publisher, is now on tour to spread the word to Ontanians that there is more than the three main parties to choose from. And though the Reform Party has yet to field a candidate in Huron -Bance, .Harness remains hopeful that such a move is a dis- tinct possibility since the party goal is to run at candidates in at least half of Ontario's 107 ridings. One of the battles that must be waged to gain interest in Ontario's Reform Party, says Harness, is a pervasive wave of apathy. "A lot of people are disconnected from the system," he says, noting one step in the right direction may be to push for further reforms to election and finance laws that would allow for more candidates to enter the fray come election time. "This party believes in grass roots popu- lism," he says. Still, he notes, economic growth is the par- ty's number one issue, and part of that goal, he says is to cut waste and find outside -of -the - box ways to encourage growth. More taxation is not the answer, says Har- ness, noting the Reform Party was the first to come out against the provincial Liberal gov- ernment's plan to introduce a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) in the summer of 2010. "Their claim that it is a revenue neutral tax leaves you scratching your head," says Harness, noting that as a business owner he sees the HST as something that will take the money out of the economy that would nor - mally go towards the purchase of goods and services. While the Reform Party of Ontario does hold true to many of the philosophies es- poused by the once mighty federal Reform Party, the party itself stands on its own. And one of the party's hopes, says Har- ness, is the federal Reform Party's once 30,000 -member -strong volunteer base in On- tario will come out of the woodwork and get involved. "Canadian politics works best when it's consensual," says Harness. Part of that cohesiveness, he says, requires some major overhauls to the current trends of amalgamation and centralization, especially within school -board district and hospitals. In particular, he says, district school boards and Liberal -created Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs), which fund health-care bodies including hospitals, have an inordinate amount of power when "they don't actually do anything but they have the authority to close things." Harness says the Reform Party would do away with LHINs and eliminate district school boards so municipalities could operate schools like they once did. Such a move, he adds, would give municipalities more control over their own development. "You pull a school out so that's pretty much it for the whole town," he said. Energy issues are another area of concern for the Reform Party, says Harness, noting the party does not support the Liberal plan to shutter coal plants since the plan will elimi- nate 400 jobs in Sarnia alone. "It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense," he says. Those seeking more information on the Re, - form e -form Party can visit www.NewCanada.ca •Snow Clearing Residential & Commercial (Free Estimates) •Salting •Ask us About Gift Certificates "Your Full Service Home & Garden Centre" 5.24-2645 166 Barnette St. E., Goderich • PZI PURSER'S PUTTY DRYWALL CALIFORNIA KNOCK -DOWN CEILINGS Boarding & Taping Commercial & Residential (519) X24-2241 BArroiv "Barney -Purser GOOERICH f ,43. Computer Network Sales & Service Business Computer Ak and Network Solutions Cra*"'® w 80938 Falls Reserve Line Benmiller/Goderich "We make house calls" 440-0151 info@cbdatasysterns.com DATA SYSTEMS BETWEEN THE PIPES PLUBIAG STEVE PHILLIPS LICENSED PLUMBER PHONE: (226)4483O28 Zurich, Ont WISHING EVERYONE A WONDERFUL SEASON From Vickie & Sylke Your local Sunlife representatives u+1 Sun ti Life Financial 50 South St., Goderich, ON N7A 3L5 519-524-5591.1-888-550-0552 . t..........6..-... 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