Last week’s ‘Town Hall Meeting’ featuring MPP Tim Hudak – the head of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and Leader of the Official Opposition in the Ontario Legislature at Queen’s Park – was one of the best-attended morning meetings ever hosted by the FCC. Even with relatively short notice and taking place in the dead of a sweltering summer, over 100 people attended the meeting at the Dutch Mill Country Market. Among the guests were Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale Conservative MP David Sweet and Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina – who both spoke briefly at the meeting.

Predictably, questions about the future of Ontario’s horse racing industry, Hudak’s proposed changes to rules and regulations related to Ontario unions and the proposed St. Mary’s quarry north of Carlisle dominated the question and answer session that followed Hudak’s opening comments. Somewhat surprisingly, there were no questions about amalgamation or the proposed Mid Peninsula Highway (a small group of protesters opposed to the proposed Fort Erie to the GTA transportation corridor braved frigid weather during Hudak’s last visit to Flamborough).

Many people played an important behind the scenes role to help make the Town Hall meeting such a great success. FCC  photographer Wilf Arndt – executive director of the Waterdown Business Improvement Area (BIA) – ‘went the extra mile’ so that we could publish pictures from the event in this month’s Bottom Line. You can see more of Wilf’s pictures on the FCC website which can be found HERE. Our friends and partners at TV Cogeco (thank you producer James Spalding) were there to tape the meeting for later broadcast (we’ll let you know when we know the details). Then there was Tony Simeone and his team at the Dutch Mill. And a very special THANK YOU is extended to Glen Smith and his team at Merit Insurance who underwrote the expenses related to the event.

Thanks to Catherine O’Hara of the Flamborough Review and Kevin Werner of Hamilton Community News (Ancaster News, Dundas Star News, Hamilton News-Mountain Edition and the Stoney Creek News), the Town Hall meeting received extensive media coverage. Some of the articles follow.

Horsemen need to “keep up the fight,” says Hudak
By Catherine O’Hara • REVIEW STAFF July 19,2012
Progressive Conservative leader, Tim Hudak, outlined his party’s four-point plan aimed at moving the province forward at his Town Hall Meeting, hosted by the Flamborough Chamber of Commerce, at Dutch Mill Country Market this morning. Read the article…