Lest We Forget

For many, November is the month to prepare for winter's onslaught - make sure the chimney is cleaned, the snow-blower is tuned up, the leaves are raked, and wonder how we'll get through another Christmas season in one piece.

And for many, November is the 11th month, the 11th is the day, the 11th hour is the time we remember those who gave all, those who were wounded, and those who served to keep Canada, our families and the world, free. Free to remember - free to speak out - free to vote without fear. Those young sons and daughters, brothers and sisters who have bravely marched into harm's way for their country can never be forgotten.

And let us also remember the courageous men and women who place themselves at risk 24/7 in Afghanistan. There, our troops do so much more than battle the Taliban - young Canadian soldiers are training the Afghan police in providing law and order, our technicians are providing the tools and technology to create drinking and irrigation water, to grow new food and cash crops, and assisting in the overall rebuilding of the country including homes, schools, hospitals and community centres.

Earlier in October, I was excited to bring Afghanistan 360 to Pickering. The display included pictures, written accounts, video and interactive screens for the residents to engage themselves and to see, and understand, just how important Canada's role is in helping the Afghan people help themselves. I was also very pleased that so many school children also came to visit and that a number of Afghan vets were on hand to talk about their experiences and answer questions.

These soldiers are our youngest veterans and they do us proud.

Bustling Business
Creative Salon and Spa, located at 893 Bayly St., has grown its' clientele right into a second location in the new San Francisco By The Bay mixed use project. Located at 1250 St. Martins Dr., Betty and her staff were on hand to welcome clients and neighbours to experience all that 4U Salon & Spa has to offer and I was thrilled to assist Betty with the official ribbon cutting. Be watching as other new businesses call Pickering 'home' and open in the near future alongside Betty. And I will continue to encourage the growth of existing businesses and the development of new businesses here in Pickering - bringing with them new employment opportunities, additional payroll dollars to spend within the community, and additional property tax dollars to assist the City moving forward.

September 26th, I was pleased to be a part of the opening of Moksha Yoga, 1099 Kingston Rd. (Dairy Queen plaza). Growing Pickering's identity as a healthy place to live, Moksha Yoga has professional, personnel trainers who can effectively assist you not only in toning up all the right places but leave you feeling like a new person after each visit. The independent hot yoga studios are internationally located in the Caribbean, Switzerland, USA and Canada. There are 23 studios across Ontario alone, and growing. All of the studios are committed to ethical, compassionate and environmentally conscious living. Visit them on-line at www.mokshayogapickering.com and discover what they can do for you!

Late October saw the first shovel going into the ground for the multi-million dollar expansion of Purdue Pharma, a leader in the medical industry. With some 300 staff in Pickering and selected three years running as one of Canada's top 100 companies, this expansion will see more jobs being created - not just in construction but in full-time, meaningful positions. With manufacturing, administrative, research and development facilities in Pickering, Purdue Pharma is very active in the area of drug delivery technologies and markets products for the treatment of pain, respiratory disease, gastrointestinal disorders and infection control. Under the watchful eye of President Cornelia Hentzsch, Purdue Pharma will continue to deliver quality health products around the globe.

The value of new application construction continues to grow strongly in Pickering, despite the global economic turn-down. Commercial construction value to the end of September came in at $25.1 million compared to the same period last year which was $4.5 million. Industrial is nearly $40.6 million over last year's $37.2 million. Some cynics might call this simply luck - I call the past 14 months of tremendous growth luck also - I found the harder I worked, the luckier we got!

Sustainable Pickering
As the Chair of Sustainable Pickering, I never tire promoting Pickering and all of the good things we do to make our city and our neighbourhoods better places to be proud of. The Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade continues to be an important link in our sustainable efforts and contribute whenever and wherever they can. Such was the case when they worked with us and under our Adopt-a-Park program and adopted Lynn Heights Park. They wisely enlisted myself, the mayor and the assistance of young school children from Saint Isaac Joques Separate School to take part in the first clean up of litter and commit to doing this again at least three times per year. Our hope is to see this program slowly dwindle to nothing as everyone gets the message that disposing of any litter in our parks, on our sidewalks, or on our roads is simply not cool.

Veridian Corporation, our provider of electricity, has been an important partner of Sustainable Pickering from the beginning. As a member of the Board of Directors of Veridian, I am delighted that the entire Board has approved Veridian positioning itself into an even greener position. The Board has recently approved an expenditure of $12 million to be invested in solar assets over the next two years. In addition to partnering with Durham SustainAbility in the Region's first solar farm, we are looking at a number of roof top projects on Veridian and municipal facilities. The electricity created and fed back into the electrical grid does three main things: 1) it provides renewable energy; 2) it reduces green house gas emissions; 3) it pays for itself and will eventually produce a profit through the Province's 20 year guaranteed Feed In Tariff program which effectively purchases all the electricity that we can produce.

Timely Beginning
Hiring? Looking for employment? Lookers and lookees take note. Retail Pages is expanding again. The "little paper that grew" has just begun another paper called LET'S TALK! This free to the public, bi-weekly paper will assist employers in reaching residents who live in Durham Region. By living and working close to home more dollars are generated and spent locally (creating even more jobs), large dollars are saved on commuting, shorter distances means less gas fumes entering the air we breath and more play time is available because one is not sitting in traffic jams for an extra hour or two each work day. Visit the web site at: www.localhelpwanted.ca or email at: rates@localhelpwanted.ca and prove to yourself that LET'S Talk is for everyone.

This is the first employment and career training publication exclusive to Durham Region and will prove to be of major importance to businesses looking for new staff and for residents seeking new employment opportunities. LET'S TALK is one of those 'must haves' for everyone. I congratulate Rocco and Christine Racioppo on their new venture and wish them every success as they grow their business here in Pickering.
 

Contact Doug Dickerson
City Councillor, Ward 2
City of Pickering
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