Rob Strang Noticeably passionate about the environment during his term on Orangeville council, Rob Strang is seeking the Green Party nomination on June 23 to represent the Dufferin-Caledon riding as MPP. But he will have some competition from Bolton resident Patti Foley.

A scarborough native, Mr. Strang moved to Dufferin in 1989 to manage the Mansfield Outdoor Centre for one year. But after the year was over he and wife Bernadette Hardaker didn't want to leave the area, so they established a home-based business in Shelburne. It was in 1994 that they and their three daughters settled in Orangeville, a place they thought would be good to raise a family.

Still involved with the outdoor centre as part owner and a member of the board of directors, Mr. Strang has been self-employed since 1989 providing safety, occupational health and environmental engineering services to industry in Canada and in the U.S. He is a registered occupational hygienist and a professional engineer with a chemical engineering degree. He also has a graduate diploma in occupational health.

Patti Foley Prior to serving as a councillor for the Town, he joined the Optimist Club of Orangeville in 2002 and in 2003 joined the Power Up Renewable Energy Co-op, a group interested in engaging the community in energy conservation and renewable energy opportunities. He was also a member of the Environmental Appeal Board of Ontario from 1992 to 1997.

It was in 1997 that he first decided to run for council. Mr. Strang said everyone else who was running was saying residential growth is a good thing. However, he didn't know anyone who wanted the town to grow much bigger than it was. Frustrated with the candidates' views that he felt were not representative of residents, and not wanting to vote for any of them, he decided to run in the municipal election. During his campaign he focused on

"better, not bigger," where providing a better quality of life for residents was more important than increasing residential growth without adequate industry growth to offset the tax base.

Although he was not elected that year, he continued to fight for sustainable development while running for the Green Party in the riding, then known as Dufferin Peel-Wellington- Grey, in the 2000 federal election, where he received

the third highest votes of any Green Party candidate in the province.

In 2003, a little better known around town, he ran for council once again and this time was elected.

"As a town councillor, I was an outspoken advocate of protecting the town's employment land, dedicating parkland reserve funds for land purchase to enhance the town's trail systems and enhancing the town's transit system," wrote Mr. Strang in his profile.

He didn't seek re-election in the 2006 municipal election because he was thinking about the next step and feels provincial policies don't allow town councils to protect a community's quality of life. But an MPP could affect positive change.

"Even if you had a council that was committed to improving the quality of life and sustainable development, making the town better without growing bigger at the expense of the environment, economy and quality of life, you couldn't do it because of provincial policy statements," he said. "There was no point in running on municipal council if the Province won't let you protect the quality of life of the people in the town."

He said developments undermining the quality of life in the riding should be the biggest issue during the campaign. If the Green Party could do well in the election and other parties question how they managed to do it, it would be because they were

putting the interests of the public ahead of those of the development industry.

He said having a proper balance of residential population and jobs will help the economy in any town because residents would be saving time, money and the environment by not having to commute. This would also leave more time for families to be together.

"Everything would be so much better, if we could make communities that are

better balanced," he said.

He would also like to focus on renewable energy, which the riding would hugely benefit from, and on bringing in industries that will be here for the long haul.

Mr. Strang said the difference between the Green Party and other parties is that they are long-term thinkers. He said if people are thinking long-term they will be concerned with the environment and the affect it will have on their children and their grandchildren.

He will only be accepting campaign donations from individuals, not businesses, unions, etc., as he thinks this is where the root of political problems start. He said doing otherwise impairs the politicians ability to be objective.

After several years of voting for the party and following its movement Ms. Foley made it official this year by taking out a membership and jumping into the political arena.

She moved to Ontario in 1973 from a small town, Londonderry Station, in Nova Scotia.

For the last 16 years, she has been a resident of Bolton, where she works has a freelance reporter and parttime nature photographer. With her photography experience she said she has seen first-hand what there is to protect in Dufferin-Caledon and said it should be a priority to maintain it.

Ms. Foley described herself as a person who is very passionate about the environment and unwilling to accept things as they are. A grandmother and mother of two sons, Jason and Michael, she said she worries about what's being left behind for them.

"It's up to me to protect what's there for them," said Ms. Foley.

She said if there isn't clean air for them to breathe, clean water for them to drink or clean soil for food it doesn't really matter what else, such as material items, they have.

She chose the Green Party because it reflects her own values and ideas. She said the old line parties have let her down as they are not proactive enough when it comes issues like the environment.

She's also concerned with quarry, transportation and water issues.

"I have spent years working closely with many nonprofit organizations and community groups in my capacity as area representative for charityvillage.com and I have heard first hand people's concerns, particularly about health issues and the environment," she said.

Ms. Foley said she is a tireless crusader for what she believes in and advocating for sustainable growth and for the natural preservation of the area is her mission.

The nomination meeting will be held at the Caledon Community Complex at 2 p.m. on June 23.

The deadline to register as a party member to vote for a candidate is June 8. You can register by going to www.gpo.ca

Sylvia Jones is running for the Conservative Party, Elizabeth (Betsy) Hall is running for the Liberal Party and Lynda McDougall is running for the NDP. The election will take place on October 10.