Posts belonging to Category milton 150th anniversary

Just the mere mention of that intersection causes many residents in the area to roll their eyes.

Why? We have seen many near misses of vehicles driving down Yates from Thompson Road with cars coming out of March Crossing. This weekend was no different.

Lets go back in time to this past summer around the dinner hour. Local residents were brought out of their homes with the sounds of screeching tires, loud thumps and a big bang. What had happened was a car traveling north on Yates Drive towards Bennett Blvd. at what witnesses describe as “over the speed limit”, narrowly missing a vehicle coming out on March Crossing into the intersection. This car swerved to miss that car, lost control and jumped the curb on the opposite side of the road and smash into a house. Luckily there was no one hurt, the car sustained some damage and the bay window of the home was damaged.

For those of us who live in the area know, kids are walking up and down the sidewalk heading to their friends homes or to the local parks and thank God no one was there was this happened.

Now, we go back to this past Saturday and the almost exact situation happened again. A car traveling up Yates Drive from Thompson Road heading towards Bennett Blvd. driving up the street, narrowly misses a car coming out from March Crossing, loses control and jumps the curb on the opposite side and hits the same house in almost the identical spot.

Enough is enough. Im not one person who favours putting stop signs at every intersection or reducing speed when there is no justification. Something has to change before any other home or God forbid, someone is injured or killed.

The speed limit on Yates Drive is 50km/hr. During last falls election campaign, I spoke with many people about community safety and what we as citizens can do to make our streets safer. Many of you favoured reducing the speed limit on streets. Is that enough?

Would a 40km/hr speed limit saved this home owner from yet another insurance claim and time away from their lives to repair the damage to their home that someone else caused? Maybe.

If the speed limit was reduced it might be cause for the driver to make sure they slow down. Who really knows.

Would a stop sign have done the trick? Again, who knows. If drivers know there is a stop sign approaching at that intersection, would they reduce their speed before they come to March Crossing?

Possibly. Only if people open their eyes and realize our residential and town roads are not speedways.

It’s frustrating to live in an area such as this with such amazing neighbours and people living in the subdivision to have to deal with this. The only thing we have left is to turn to the town of Milton and see what can be done.

For years now, residents have complained about speeding on our streets. To the town’s credit they have done some studies about excess speed on Yates Drive and have concluded it doesnt warrant a stop sign at this particular intersection.

My message, that I plan on delivering with the help of the local residents, is simply this.

Reduce the speed to 40km/h and / or put a 4 way stop at this intersection. By doing nothing, is simply condoning this behaviour and endorsing what has already happened.

The safety of the people in the area, their homes and our children are more important than worrying about if people will be inconvenienced by an additional stop sign.

Whats more important to you?

As many of you are aware, there was a provincial election recently. The campaign seemed to go on forever since Premier Dalton McQuinty closed down Queens Park early this summer and thus the rubber hit the road.

During that campaign there was a referendum on our voting system that we, as voters, had to figure out and make a decision on. The future of the province was up for grabs. Did we think that the Liberals did a good enough job to carry on for four more years or did they deserve to get the boot?

Despite what side of that arguement you sat on, one thing we should all be able to agree upon is this…the voter turnout was dissappointing.

Just over half of the electorate came out to vote. This statistic has been continually debated after each election and a common theme has emerged. My vote doesn’t count.

Now when I hear that, it makes me shake my head. A perfect example can be given from this past provincial election.

Halton MPP Ted Chudleigh has been representing our riding of Halton for 12 years. He, in my and many peoples opinions, has done a very good job representing us in fights to secure more funding for Milton’s hospital and other services our growing community needs.

To put a long story short, Ted was returned to Queens Park on October 10th with a difference of only 164 votes when everything was counted. Going from having the highest plurality of votes by a winning candidate in the last elections to one of, if not THE closest margin of victory this time. Regardless of what you thought about faith based education funding and what kind of impact that had on Ted’s results, it just goes to show that everyone who did vote here in Halton….those votes counted.

Another example from the previous federal election can be found with our current Minister of Health, Tony Clement. He won his riding by only 28 votes. On election night and before the recount, he had only won by 21 votes. Again, in that riding as well as others, those votes counted.

Want more? Lets go back in time shall we? Almost one year ago in fact.

Last year around this time we were in the midst of our municipal election campaign. I was spending almost each and every waking moment hitting the doors and talking to as many people as possible. My blog was being updated on a daily basis with comments and observations that I got from the voters in my ward.

Every issue that came up, I did my best to put out there exactly what my stand on the issue was and what can be done to fix that problem. From Pristine Power to road safety to green growth and to accountibility of the elected officials…everything was up for discussion.

In Milton, each ward can elect 2 town councillors to represent them. In our current system its the first two candidates with the highest votes that win. In past elections in Ward One, the difference between the first two candidates and the third were hundreds of votes. This time around in 2006, the difference betweeen an elected seat and the third place was only 92 votes.

Less than 100 votes separated myself from current Councilor Brian Penman. Not a large margin…and that’s democracy for you.

So when I hear from people that my vote doesnt count, I bring them to these examples and say, YES your vote DOES count.

Instead of coming up with different ways to count our votes (ie MMP et all) we should be taking a hard look at ourselves and our priorities when it comes to the ballot box.

Why didnt you vote?  Oh I didnt have time.  The last provincial election had several days of advanced polls so that people who would find it hard to go vote on election day, can come out and have their voice heard.  I believe the advanced polls were open 5 days and open for almost 10 hours on election day.  There are laws in place to allow everyone a chance to vote.  Many people dont take advantage of these options and its saddening to say the least.

In the last municipal election less than 30% of people voted.  In the following by election in Ward 2, even less voted … approx 20%.  Again in this situation, advance polls were available, extended voting hours and many opportunities given, but yet people didnt show up.  I dont think that by changing the system from its current incarnation to MMP or another system will help.

The problem is people dont want to vote.  Again, many feel that their vote doesnt count.  Hopefully after reading this, they might change their opinion.  We need to find out why people arent voting and work at it from that angle…not changing the system so that we end up losing local representation in some ridings by having some political party people sitting in a seat and speaking out on our behalf.

Lets have that discussion soon.  A federal election is looming in the next few months quite possibly and given the current state of affairs and the minority government in place, our vote counts even more.

Trying some new things every now and then so if it looks like somethings been changed….youre right! It has. Let me know what you think. I’ll be trying to make it look a bit better so it might change some more over the next little while.

Im trying to incorporate this blog into my website so it will be easier to go to www.mikecluett.ca instead of this blog. As with everything…a work in progress.

Speaking of a work in progress, the Amazing Race is coming up next month as well. It looks like the teams are now set in place and they wont be accepting any new applicants…BUT we will need lots of people to come out and cheer the teams on.

This race has been many months in the making, and its going to be a fitting end to the 150th Anniversary celebrations. Go to www.milton.ca and click on the 150th logo for more information.

As well, one of the top rated schools (Hawthorne Village Public School) will be having its “WELCOME BACK FUN FAIR” on September 29th starting at 11am. Theres going to be tons of stuff going on so even if you dont have kids in the school…come on by.

It’s that time of year folks. The world famous Milton Fall Fair is upon us and this year, as every year, looks to top them all.

Check out more information at http://www.miltonfair.com/

Friday, September 21st 2007

3:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Halls and exhibits open to public
3:00 p.m. Midway Opens
(Special Reduced Midway Rates from 3:00 till 7:00 p.m. only!)
5:00 p.m. 2007 Speed Show (Barrel Racing) – Horse Ring #2
5:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. – Beer Tent Open
6:00 p.m Ambassador Competition/ Grand Opening
7:00 p.m. Open Junior Dairy Show – No. 1 Barn
8:00 p.m. Demolition Derby

Saturday, September 22nd, 2007

9:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Halls and exhibits open to public
9:00 a.m. Hunter Show Jumper Challenge – Horse Ring #2
10:00 a.m. Pet Show1
0:30 a.m. Heavy Horse Show – Horse Ring #1
10:30 a.m. Truck & Tractor Pull
10:30 a.m. Youth Beef Show – Beside No. 1 Barn
11:00 a.m. Halton 4-H Dairy Calf Club Achievement Day – No. 1 Barn
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m. Beer Tent Open
11:00 a.m. Midway Opens
11:00 a.m. Circus Jonathan – Infield Stage
11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Chili Cookoff
11:30 a.m. Light Horse Show – Horse Ring #2
11:30 a.m. Sneezy the Clown-Infield Stage
12:00 p.m. Stylamanders – Infield Stage
12:30 p.m. Craig Douglas – Infield Stage
12:30 a.m. Open Beef Show – Ring Beside Cattle Barn
1:00 p.m. Travel’n Riverboat Show
1:30 p.m. Stylamanders – Infield Stage
1:30 p.m. Terrie – Karaoke By Terrie – Exhibition Theatre
2:00 p.m. Craig Douglas – Infield Stage
2:00 p.m. Kiddies Pedal Tractor Pull Sign (Registration) on the track area by the office
2:15 p.m. Len Lee – Rose Specialist – Exhibition Theatre
2:30 p.m. Silver Elvis – Infield Stage
3:00 p.m. Kiddies Pedal Tractor Pull Commences
3:00 p.m. Neon Rain – Infield Stage
3:00 p.m. Terrie-Karaoke By Terrie – Exhibition Theatre
4:00 p.m. The Stylamanders – Infield Stage
4:30 p.m. Craig Douglas – Infield Stage
5:00 p.m. Martial Arts – Cead Bua – Infield Stage
5:30 p.m. Neon Rain – Infield Stage
6:00 p.m. Mounted Games – Grandstand
7:00 p.m. Demolition Derby Drivers Meeting – Exhibition Theatre
8:00 p.m. Demolition Derby

Sunday, September 23rd, 2007

9:00 a.m. Hunter Challenge and Gymkhana Show
10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Halls and exhibits open to public
10:30 a.m. Lawn & Garden Tractor Pull11:00 a.m. Midway opens.
11:00 a.m. Sheep Show – No. 1 Barn
11:00 a.m. Baby Show – Exhibition Threatre
11:30 a.m. Jonathan Fletcher Band – Infield Stage
12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Beer Tent Open
12:00 p.m. Kiddies Pedal Tractor Pull sign up in track area by office
12:30 p.m. Sneezy the Clown – Infield Stage1:00 p.m. Demolition Derby Drivers Meeting
1:00 p.m. Jonathan Fletcher Band – Infield Stage
1:00 p.m. Kiddies Pedal Tractor Pull Commences
1:30 p.m. Hal Allison – Exhibition Theatre
2:00 p.m. Demolition Derby
2:00 p.m. Skyway Cloggers – Infield Stage
2:15 p.m. Sean James (Ponds & Water Gardens) – Exhibition Theatre
2:30 p.m. Martial Arts – Hundo- Infield Stage
3:00 p.m. Hal Allison – Exhibition Theatre
3:00 p.m. Skyway Cloggers – Infield Stage
4:30 p.m. Halls close
5:00 p.m. Hall Pick-up

Louise Brown
Education Reporter

Free to a good campus: A chunk of Canada’s new boom town.

Bustling Milton may have the fastest-growing population in the country and a business boom to match, but there’s one thing it hasn’t got that it wants very badly.

A wing of the ivory tower.

It’s offering a $3.5 million parcel of land by the main drag, just steps from the GO Train station, free to the first college or university to bite.

The timing couldn’t be better, after Toronto university presidents warned this week a surprise surge in enrolment could bring 40,000 more students to GTA colleges and universities in the next 15 years – sparking talk of a possible new GTA campus.

“The way we’re growing – and the way the GTA is growing – this could be the most sensible location for a new campus,” said Mario Belvedere, Milton’s chief administrative officer, who calls the two-hectare site of the old Pigment and Chemical paint factory “a dynamite, gorgeous location.”

“We want a post-secondary institution to balance out our residential and industrial growth – we’ve got a disproportionate number of kids here and in a few years they’ll need somewhere to go for higher education,” said Belvedere.

Milton topped the charts in the latest Census by roughly doubling the number of children under 14 in just five years, making it a young town that will put pressure on the school system, he said. It opened two more schools last year and has another two ready to open this fall.

These students will be part of the boom that puts pressure on all GTA universities, as well as community colleges such as George Brown College, which face the same space crunch as enrolments climb.

The U of T already has satellite campuses in Mississauga and Scarborough. McMaster University in Hamilton plans to open a campus in Burlington. Sheridan College in Oakville has a satellite campus in Brampton. The University of Guelph has a joint campus with Humber College in Etobicoke.

Still, Milton needs its own campus, says Belvedere.

“But we realized just wishing for a university or college to come here is not enough; we need to attract their attention.”

The town acquired the land through a partnership with the Royal Bank. Officials are contacting all Ontario colleges and universities to pitch the free land. The offer expires in December 2008.

It has even posted a sign that proclaims with confidence, if few details: Future Home of Post-Secondary Institution.

“Free land!” says Belvedere. “Is that amazing or what?”

Humber College plans to open a satellite campus in 2009 in Orangeville.

Today is the official birthday of the Town of Milton. Milton was incorporated on July 4, 1857.

Its been quite the busy week getting ready for Canada Day but in the end the event went off without a hitch. The pictures I took are in the process of being downloaded and I will post them either here or on Facebook to show them off. *EDIT 1051PM* DONE

The first part of our day was preparing the 27 classic convertible cars for the parade route through downtown. We were quite lucky to have the Halton Police Honour Guard there as well to carry the colours and to further honour the inductees to the Milton Walk of Fame. Many thanks to the hard work of Halton Regional Police Honour Guard Drill Commander Constable Hans, who got everyone together in the honour guard. It added that extra touch of class to the event. Also included in the Honour Guard is Allan Eaton, Constable Leggete, Constable Robertson, and Constable Kelly. Well done!!

Over the past couple of years the 150th Anniversary Committee and the Milton Historical Society had been working on this project, and to our knowledge there is no other municipality in the world that has anything close to this. These 27 people will be the first to have their names written in the history books of Milton as those from Milton who made a national and or international impact in their chosen field.

The cars where shined to perfection and as we got ready to go, some of the streets hadn’t been blocked off yet so some of us had to take it upon ourselves (and our cars) to make sure we cut off traffic as the parade went through town. Being a lover of these fine pieces of machinery, I’ll have THOSE pictures up on this blog soon too…what a sight.

We finally got moving just as the clouds began to come in for what some of us thought was a quick shower. This didn’t dampen any ones spirits, especially those of the inductee’s…”BRING IT ON!” they said.

Once the parade had finished, they ended up behind the main stage and they were marched in by the honour guard and the inductees made their way to the tables as the veterans, who were honoured earlier at Victoria Park, were seated as well.

Another chuckle we had was trying to bring Milly the Millstone, (pictured here, courtesy of Ashley Challinor) the official Town of Milton Mascot, up the narrow steps without causing a scene and injury to Milly. Speaking as one who has worn the Milly costume at events, its NOT an easy thing to move around in and Henry deserves some praise for doing it as often as he does.

John Challinor and Bruce Carlin of the Milton Historical Society, who were the emcees of the event, kicked it off with the introductions…and we finally began! As I stood there on stage looking out at the crowd, I was blown away by the sheer number of people who took the time to come out to first honour the veterans of Milton and the inductees to the Walk of Fame. As the introductions continued, I slipped out the camera and took a couple of shots…I was just speechless. Ann Kornuta, local Milton artist and “foto-master” was running around snapping as many shots as she could for the Halton Compass. There was so much going on, it was hard to keep up with it all. TV Cogeco was out in full force as well with a camera centre stage as well as Sandy French hard at work along the sidelines. Stay tuned to Plugged In! on TV Cogeco for the full story.

One by one the inductees were brought on to the stage to be recognized for their hard work and dedication to their craft, to get a quick photo snapped and maybe say a few words. Each one of them who spoke, did so from the heart. Many of them had won other awards in their chosen profession but many of them stated that the Milton Walk of Fame honour surpassed all others.

The most heartfelt speech of the day belonged to Tiger Ali Singh as he recounted his years as a youth in Milton, the hard work and dedication of not only his father but of his brothers and his mother for keeping the family together. They continue to live in Milton while travelling all over the world performing in wrestling matches. Tiger Jr.’s speech brought tears to many eyes as he expressed his gratitude of being honoured this way along with his father. Tiger Jeet Singh got up to speak as well, but as he passed me on his way up the stairs he told me, I don’t know how I’m going to top that. Hes a man of few words but they spoke volumes.

After the last inductee spoke it was time for people to have a chance to meet them face to face and get their autographs. No sooner that we announced it, many of the inductees were swarmed from Albert Casson to Bruce Hood (who enjoyed the boos of the crowd as he came up to the stage…those who are hockey fans KNOW how much fun it is to booo the refs!) OMNI TV came out to tape the event as well for the showcase of the Singh family. It actually got to the point they needed to leave and needed an escort out of the park to the cars…ME being security for two 6 foot PLUS wrestlers…HA…I know I laughed too.

What else can we say about Milton’s Canada Day but WOW! From beginning to end there were tons of things to do, the rides were great and the food was even better than before.

And the only way to end the show was with ABBAMANIA who rocked the crowd with many of Abba’s hits from the 70’s. Young and old were dancing, singing and having a great time as the sun went town and the night sky readied for the fireworks. A special thanks to Kevin Brackley who did quite a bit of jumping through hoops, bending over backwards and many days and nights stressing out to get Abbbamania as the main event for the 150th Anniversary /Canada Day celebrations. Great job Kevin!

The fireworks were set to music this year and there wasn’t one person who left that fairgrounds disappointed. For around 25 minutes the sky turned bright and loud with the sounds of the fireworks set to music. Excellent job and w
e can only hope next years Canada Day’s celebrations can be topped. It will be tough.

Tomorrow is the day you cast your ballot in the byelection for the open seat in Ward 2.

Your choices are:

Mike Bugala
John Challinor
Peter Haight
Ron Furik
Greg Nelson

You can check out some of my other postings for comments on each of the candidates that are running for who I feel is the best choice for council. The most important thing is to get out and vote. Who do you think will best serve YOUR concerns on council?

Make your voice heard!

I had a quite eventful weekend starting on Saturday. Both Chris Hadfield PS and Hawthorne Village PS had carnivals this weekend. I had made arrangements with a good friend of our running the Chris Hadfield event to help them out and be … er deliver Milly the Millstone to the school. Needless to say being a mascot in a huge costume like Milly’s is quite the challenge.

In between the heat, the fact that the fan inside Milly didnt work and the occasional jab/push/shove/kick from the odd kid or two…it was a great time. Many of the children knew who Milly was or were very interested in learning more about it. Thats a start. The number of people calling it a hockey puck has RAPIDLY decreased over the past few months of Milly’s existence which makes those of us who helped bring her to life feel quite good.

NOW on to something REALLY big…

Its something that every municipality tries to do. Some try it with awards, and some try it with accomadations of some kind. Milton’s celebrating its roots.

Milton will have its own Walk of Fame. Twenty seven Miltonians have been selected to be its first inductee’s to our Walk of Fame. This is quite possibly the most exciting undertaking the Town of Milton has been a part of in recent history.

Each one of these inductees will be given a place in our Walk of Fame which will be physically located in the soon to be built Town Hall upgrade.

Here’s the official press release from the Town of Milton. More to come … so stay tuned!

Milton’s 150th Anniversary Master Committee establishes Walk of Fame recognition program

First 27 inductees to be honoured by community on Canada Day

MILTON, Ontario – The Corporation of the Town of Milton announced today that its 150th Anniversary Master Committee, assisted by Milton Historical Society, has established the Walk Of Fame, a 150th Anniversary legacy program that will honour Miltonians past and present who have earned significant national and/or international recognition through their enduring achievements.

The Walk of Fame will be permanently established along the glass overhead walkway that joins Town Hall to its new addition. Each Walk of Fame member will have his or her own specially-inscripted floor tile along the walkway corrider.

Twenty-seven Miltonians will be inducted during inaugural Walk of Fame ceremonies at Milton Fairgrounds on Canada Day this year. They are:

Bert Stewart (Agriculture) – Mr. Stewart is one of the world’s most successful cattle showmen and judges. He has had 16 grand champion show winners at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and countless winners and champions in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Italy and Brazil;

Harry Barnes (Athletics) –

Bruce Hood (Athletics) – Mr. Hood was a referee in the National Hockey League from 1963 to 1984. During his 21-year NHL career, Mr. Hood officiated 1,033 regular season games, 157 Stanley Cup playoff games, three NHL All-Star games and three Canada Cup games. He was appointed as Air Travel Complaints Commissioner by then Prime Minister Jean Chretien in the Summer of 2000 and served in the role until 2002. He was the author of two books, “Calling the Shots” (1988) and “The Good of the Game“ (1999);

Mike Kaszycki (Athletics) – Mr. Kaszycki played more than 200 National Hockey League games between 1977 and 1982 with the New York Islanders, Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs. Of note, he played on a line with fellow Miltonian John Tonelli in 1979 while both were with the Islanders;

Darlene Kranstz (Athletics) – Ms. Kranstz helped to pioneer the sport of Jiu-Jitsu amongst women around the world. She is a four-time female World Champion in Sport Jiu-Jitsu, having won in 1988, 1992, 1995 and 1996

Bob Kranstz (Athletics) – Mr. Kranstz was instrumental in the inception of Sport Jiu-Jitsu in the 1970’s and is a former three-time World Champion (Senior Division over 40);

Peter McDuffe (Athletics) – Peter McDuffe played 57 games in the National Hockey League between 1971 and 1976 with St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, Kansas City Scouts and Detroit Red Wings;

Enio Sclisizzi (Athletics) – Enio Sclisizzi played 77 National Hockey League games during the Original Six between 1946 and 1952 with the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks;

Tiger Ali Singh (Athletics) – The son of Tiger Jeet Singh, Tiger Ali Singh was a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) wrestler from 1997 to 2002. Over that time he won the Kuwait Cup Tournament, was a two-time International Wrestling Association team champion and the Asian Heavyweight Champion;

Tiger Jeet Singh (Athletics) – Tiger Jeet Singh fought in the Canadian, U.S. and international wrestling circuits from 1965 to 2005. During that time, he wrestled professionally in Japan for 22 years. He won numerous championships;

Leon Stickle (Athletics) – Mr. Stickle worked as a linesman in the National Hockey League between 1970 and 1997. Mr. Stickle worked in 1,967 regular season games, 250 Stanley Cup playoff games, six Stanley Cup games, two Canada Cups and three NHL All-Star games;

John Tonelli (Athletics) – Mr. Tonelli played 1,028 National Hockey League games between 1978 and 1992 with the New York Islanders, Calgary Flames, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Quebec Nordiques. He won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders and appeared in the 1984 Canada Cup, where he was named Most Valuable Player;

Ed Whitlock (Athletics) – Mr. Whitlock is a long distance runner and the first person over 70 years of age in the world to run a marathon in less than three hours with a time of 2:59:10 in 2003. Mr. Whitlock became the oldest person in the world to run under three hours in 2000 in age 69 with a time of 2:52:47. Since then, he has continued to extend this record, most recently to age 74 with a time of 2:58:40;

Peter Appleyard (Arts & Entertainment) – Mr. Appleyard is one of the world’s best vibraphonists, percussionists and composers. Mr. Appleyard has played on television and radio and toured all over the world since becoming a professional musician after World War II. He has accompanied almost every major band leader, jazz musician and jazz singer over his long and illustrious career. Mr. Appleyard was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 1992;

Albert Casson (Arts & Entertainment) – Mr. Casson is one of Canada’s foremost wildlife artists. Amongst his most celebrated works are At The Edge, artwork depicting giant Panda’s from China, for which he was commissioned by Kodak Canada on behalf of the Calgary Zoo;

Ernie Coombs (Arts & Entertainment) – Mr. Coombs was “Mr. Dressup” on the CBC television network from 1968 and 1996 and was supported in his entertainment of Canadian children throughout those years by his friends, Casey and Finnegan. He was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 1996;

David James Elliot (Arts & Entertainment) – Mr. Elliot was the star of the hit CBS television series “JAG,” which ran from 1995 to 2005. He played the character, Harmon Robb, Jr. Mr. Elliot has played in a number of TV and movie productions, most recently “The Man Who Lost Himself,” based on the true life story of former Canadian Football League player Terry Evanshen;

Lieutenant-Colonel G. Allan Burton (Business & Industry) – Mr. Burton began his career with the Robert Simpson Company, one of Canada’s leading department store retail chains during the 20th Century, in 1935 and retired as Chairman in 1978. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1985;

Colonel F.H. Deacon (Business & Industry) – Mr. Deacon founded F.H. Deacon & Company in 1905, making it one of the first brokerage firms in Canada and one of the first 30 securities firms to have a seat on the Toronto Stock Exchange. He became a millionaire by 1914 and almost lost it all during the stock market crash of 1929. Through financial cunning, perseverance and hard work, Colonel Deacon kept his firm afloat through the stock market crash of 1929, the Great Depression and World War II while most of his competitors closed their doors. He sold the firm to his sons in 1948;

Susan Delacourt (Business & Industry) – Ms. Delacourt is currently Ottawa Bureau Chief for the Toronto Star, a columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, and a regular commentator for CBC Newsworld’s “Politics” show and CBC Radio’s “The House.” She also worked for the Globe and Mail in a similar capacity and has covered national politics for more than 20 years. She is the author of “United We Fall,” an account of the doomed Charlottetown constitutional accord, and “Shaughnessy: The Passionate Politics of Shaughnessy Cohen”.

Jim Dills (Business & Industry) – Mr. Dills served as Executive Director of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association between 1979 and 1987, and played a leadership role in bringing community newspapering in Canada through tough times economically as well as in terms of educating it to better understand the need to incorporate emerging technologies;

Douglas Leiterman (Business & Industry) – A major creative talent of the 1960s, Mr. Leiterman, in partnership with Patrick Watson, created and produced the CBC’s seminal public affairs programme This Hour Has Seven Days, which has repeatedly been cited as the most exciting and innovative public affairs series of its kind in the history of Canadian television;

P.L. Robertson (Business & Industry) – Mr. Robertson is the Canadian inventor of the socket-head screw and the socket-head screwdriver, first produced in his factory, P.L. Robertson Company Limited, in 1908. His firm was the largest employer in Milton for more than 50 years. Mr. Robertson also authored “The Gold Standard.”

Senator Betty Kennedy (Government & Public Service) – Senator Kennedy was appointed a Canadian Senator in 2000 by then Prime Minister Jean Chretien. She is best known as a panelist on the long-running CBC television network show, Front Page Challenge, from 1962 to 1995. She was the author of two books, “Gerhard” (1975) and “Hurricane Hazel” (1979). In 1982, Mrs. Kennedy was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1983, she was elected to the Canadian News Hall of Fame and in 1992 Mrs. Kennedy was elected to the Canadian Broadcasting Hall of Fame;

The Honourable Jim Snow (Government & Public Service) – Mr. Snow was Canada’s longest serving Minister of Transportation, serving almost ten years, from 1975 to 1984. He served as a Member of Provincial Parliament, representing Halton from 1967 to 1985. He wrote an autobiographical account of his life in politics, entitled, “Mr. Jim.”

Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Hadfield (Health & Science) – Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Chris Hadfield was the first Canadian Mission Specialist (STS-74 – November 1996), the first Canadian to ever leave a spacecraft and float free in space (STS-100 – April 2001), the first Canadian to operate the Canadarm in orbit (STS-74 – November 1996), and the first and only Canadian to board Space Station Mir (STS-74 – November 1996);

Dr. John Wallace McCutcheon (Health & Science) -Dr. McCutcheon was one of the five founders of Blue Cross (Ontario) in 1941.

To be considered for Walk of Fame recognition, a candidate must be born in Milton or have spent formative or creative years in the community over a minimum 10-year period. The nominee’s accomplishments must be national or international in scope and must be best-in-class in his or her best-in-class field of endeavour for a minimum two-year period. Inductees will only be added to the Walk of Fame as credentials permit, rather than on an annual basis.

In future years, the program will be administered by the Town of Milton’s Department of Community Services, with nominations provided by Milton Historical Society and the general public.

Well, not everywhere it seems. But in Milton’s Ward 2 things are beginning to heat up for the municipal by-election on June 14th.

The list of candidates has been finalized and they include John Challinor, former Ward 2 councillor (most recently he was the Ward 4 councillor); Peter Haight, who came in 3rd place in November for ward 2; Mike Bugala who is a new comer to the political landscape in Milton; former Regional and Town Councillor Ron Furik who was defeated in November by a returning Colin Best, and Greg Nelson, who ran two previous times in Ward one back in 2003 (placed 3rd) and most recently against yours truly in 2006 where he placed 4th.

The date has been set, the race is under way and the sign “war” has begun. Driving around town this morning I had noticed a large number of John Challinor signs on ward 2 lawns and the early status of front runner hasn’t held him back. Rumour has it that John has been hitting the doors talking to residents outlying his experience both as a Ward 4 and Ward 2 councillor. John has a strong knowledge of the ward and its issues since he both lived in and represented the ward when he first came to council.

Even after the election in November, John has continued working with the town in many different aspects. Most notably he has been helping out the 150th Anniversary Master Committee in starting up the Milton WALK OF FAME. He, along with Bruce Carlin of the Milton Historical Society, will be the hosts of the Canada Day activities where we will officially introduce the first inductee’s of Milton’s Walk of Fame.

Not much is known about Mike Bugala and the issues and experience he’s bringing to the table. You are beginning to see, very quietly, some lawn signs appear on the boulevards of ward 2.

Peter Haight is also in the running, and his site has been recently updated to show the new election date and information on why he is running. Peter came in 3rd place in November behind current Ward 2 councillor Mike Boughton and now former councillor Mark Curtis, who has gone on to be a JP for the province of Ontario.

Ron Furik, taking a page out of the book of yours truly (see, someone IS listening) now has a blog and website he plans to update during the campaign. What is more important to see is if he continues the site after the election is over. I had pledged during the campaign in November that I was going to continue to blog about Milton happenings, issues and keep people up to date on town hall, and I’ve done my best to keep it up to date. Having a site during an election is great, but you have to properly use it. Ron’s entries from the November campaign were all erased and he’s starting from scratch. As an aside, I’ve kept all of my entries from the past and will continue to have them available for everyone to read.

Greg Nelson, who lives in ward 2 also has a website with his information and what has driven him to run again for council. I understand there’s a long tradition in his family for public service, which is a noble thing.

What this town needs is real ideas on what needs to be done for Milton, and not generalized statements about what is wrong … we need ideas of how we can make things better. Anyone can point out we have some traffic issues in many parts of town, or growth needs to be controlled, but how can we fix them and what can the councillor for the area do to better the quality of life here in Milton.

Anyone who is living in Ward 2 should do their best to contact the candidates and ask them the hard questions…what have you done for Milton in the past and what plans do you have for Milton’s future? Each of the candidates has to ask themselves why they are running for council. The candidates need to offer the residents a concrete plan of what they will do as councillor and what they will do to improve the quality of life in Milton.

So far, it looks like John Challinor is continuing the trend as front runner in this race. Town council needs his experience and his input on things that Milton is facing in the coming years. Johns level head-ness and common sense has been missed around the table and the residents of ward 2 will be best served by returning John Challinor to town council.