Author: Mike Cluett

First off, I apologize that its been so long in between posts. I need to get back into the swing of it all, as the old saying goes, and post here on a regular basis. Between the late nights with 6 month old baby girl, a federal election campaign (which thankfully is over) and working at HSBC…its been difficult to find the time to update the blog and site.

Now with that election over and done with, I can concentrate on my greater love…this town. Its been hard keeping up on local issues the past little while but Im going to do my best to get back on track. Possible changes with the wards, potential tax increases at both the region and the town of Milton are amongst the pressing issues for our area.

Flipping through the Milton Canadian Champion and the Toronto Star I noticed one issue that did stand out. Gary Carr, the Regional Chair for Halton, along with Ted Chudleigh MPP for Halton have expressed concerns about the amount of development in our area compared to improvements to infrastructure. One of the areas of concerns is the hospital. Milton for example is growing closer and closer to 80,000 residents while not one major improvement has been made to our hospital. That hospital was designed for a town of 35,000 residents and as the years go by, Milton will approach 100,000 and no plans in sight to expand or improve the hospital.

The hospital has made some improvements. With the help and generosity of the public and other individuals and companies, Milton Hospital now has the CT scanner that was so badly needed. Now Milton Hospital needs more than that to adapt to the changes in the region. With Mattamy Homes pumping out new homes by the day and hundreds of moving trucks bringing the belongings of many happy families, excited with the opportunity to share with us, the beauty and the wonderful community we call home, something has to be done with our hospital.

For months Ted Chudliegh has been fighting with the Provincial Government to get this problem noticed by Premier Dalton McGuinty but so far nothing has happened. Everything seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

What do our local leaders need to do to fix the problem? To date we’ve really heard nothing from Town Council. I know its not their area of responsibility but they do speak for the people. Our municipal leaders are on the the closest to the residents. Many times you can pick up the phone and give them a call to let them know how you feel. Some chose to respond quickly and others chose not to. I know that after talking with many of you during the last municipal election and afterwards, the hospital is a vitally important issue for many of you. As the town and the region grows, so should its infrastructure.

The only problem is our municipal leaders dont seem to have a vision for the future. There doesn’t seem to be a five, ten or twenty year plan on the horizon. Maybe at best a one year plan, and then a plan for re-election. In Milton, we see daily the result of decisions that were made in the past with no foresight as evidenced in their decision to close off 4th Line before they opened up James Snow Parkway a few years back.

They should have realized by now that is a growing problem that wont go away. This is what our leaders at all levels; from the member of parliament for Halton, to Ted Chudleigh, to Milton Town Council and to the Region of Halton; should be talking about endlessly to the provincial government.

It seem though that Gary Carr, the Regional Chair, is taking it to the next step. At a recent meeting of the Region of Halton, Gary Carr is threatening to not approve any future developments until there is a plan in place to address the regions hospitals, mainly Oakville and Milton. More on that here in a Toronto Star editorial of Oct 24th.

“In threatening to freeze local development, including approval for 40,000 new homes, Halton Region is considering a strategy that’s in equal parts a pressure tactic and a cry for help. Burdened by massive infrastructure needs and the unfair downloading of provincial costs, Halton is serving notice that it can’t afford to grow any further. Queen’s Park would be well-advised to take the region seriously. Its plight is by no means an isolated problem.

“Growth is not paying for itself,” region chair Gary Carr explained. “And we have the means to stop growth until (improved funding) has been put in place.”

Halton’s official plan and previous agreements with developers and the province include special wording that allows the region to refuse sewer and water services to new developments “until there’s a financial plan in place acceptable to council,” Carr said. Next month, a council committee is to consider invoking that clause to block 40,000 residences planned for construction over the next several years.

Those new homes would bring another 120,000 people to Halton at a time when the province isn’t paying its share to support residents who are already there. Growth would proceed only if Queen’s Park and developers more effectively cover the cost of municipal expansion, Carr said. The province can’t have it both ways.

This doesn’t appear to be a bluff. A spokesperson for Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs said Halton might well have the power to carry out its threatened development freeze, depending on the detailed wording of existing agreements and contracts. All this is a signal to Queen’s Park that despite its rising economic woes, the needs of cities will not disappear from the provincial agenda.”

And its not just Gary Carr. MPP Ted Chudleigh has been after the McGuinty government on the same issue and it looks like SOME progress is being made. Here’s the recent Milton Canadian Champion article by Melanie Hennessey.