GREEN PARTY LEADER Frank de Jong and Dufferin-Caledon candidate Rob Strang. All four candidates for the Oct. 10 provincial election - Betsy Hall (Liberal), Sylvia Jones (Progressive Conservative), Lynda McDougall (NDP), and Rob Strang (Green) - are on the first lap of six-week race with apparent confidence.

They're all expected to be at the all-candidates debates at Orangeville District Secondary School next Tuesday, and Shelburne's Grace Tipling Hall on Sept. 26. Both sessions, co-sponsored by the Federation of Agriculture, Manufacturers Association and Chamber of Commerce, are at 7 p.m.

Were it not for the change of electoral boundaries, Dufferin Caledon might be viewed as something of a bellwether riding in a provincial election in which the mainline media are depicting incumbent premier Dalton McGuinty as having broken his 2003 campaign promises, and Tory Leader John Tory as having erred in his promise to fund private, faith-based schools.

The local riding, were it the same geographically and demographically as in 2003, might be a test of the traditional true-Blue nature of the area, demonstrated by the fact that Mavis Wilson has been the only Liberal to have broken the Tory stranglehold (in the David Peterson government when the riding was Duffer-Peel, with similar boundaries) back in 1987.

SYLVIA JONES' CAMPAIGN OFFICE is open. Ms. Jones (left) is joined by Dufferin Warden John Oosterhof for the ribbon cutting at 170 Lakeview Drive. (Dufferin-Peel became Dufferin-Peel-Wellington- Grey in the Mike Harris government's reduction of MPP numbers, and then became what it is now at the time of a federal redistribution. Now the provincial riding matches the federal one.) Ms. Jones for the Tories and Ms. Hall for the Liberals have one thing in common in this election: both have Queen's Park experience - Sylvia as executive assistant to three successive MPPs over 15 years, and Betsy as a senior adviser to the Attorney General and the minister of Labour and of Training, Colleges and Universities.

Mr. Strang is a chemical engineer, and firmly rooted in his commitment to renewable energy. His political experience is as a member of Orangeville town council, and a Dufferin resident since 1988.

BETSY HALL makes a point at the opening of her campaign office at 81 Centennial Road Sunday. Ms. McDougall is a certificated elementary school teacher who has been a vicepresident of the Upper Grand Elementary Teachers Federation for several years, as well as a representative to the provincial federation.

She says persons elected have responsibilities to those who supported them. Three of the candidates - Betsy Hall, Sylvia Jones and Rob Strang - have opened campaign offices, but there's no indication whether Ms. McDougall intends to.

The Hall campaign office in Orangeville is at 81 Centennial Rd., at the corner of Centennial and C Line. The Jones one is a 170 Lakeview, just east of the Broadway/Highway 10 intersection.

The Strang office is at 7 First St., Orangeville, at the corner of First St. and First Ave.

At his office opening Tuesday, Mr. Strang said his campaign had raised as much money, in individual contributions, at the start of the campaign as it had at the end in previous elections. He said contributions have been coming from former PC supporters, many of whom have criticized PC leader John Tory for his stand on possible funding for private, faith-based education.

Education, along with health care, appears to be at the forefront of all campaigns. At the Hall opening, campaign manager Janet Rosenstock said John Tory had "put his foot in his mouth" with his proclamation of funding for the private schools.

Countering the anti-Tory sentiments, Ms. Jones says incumbent premier Dalton McGuinty has left a trail of broken campaign promises.

"Since being elected, the McGuinty Liberals have broken promises and recklessly spent taxpayer dollars, which has certainly left a bitter taste in the mouths of voters," Ms. Jones said in a release. "John Tory is a leader that is willing to work with all Parties in the Legislature to help restore confidence and faith in how our democratic system operates."

On the other hand, Ms. Hall says she is daily meeting families who have been helped immensely by the McGuinty policies on fund- ing for programs affecting people from students to senior citizens. She says a Tory government would take $500 million out of public education, whereas the McGuinty Liberals have delivered by "smaller class sizes and their determination to move forward by adding $3.1 billion to public education."

On personal notes, Betsy (as she prefers to be called) is a native of Mono and resident of Orangeville, along with her husband, Jay Maw. The daughter of Margaret and Gerald Hall, she is a gold medalist at University of Ottawa and award-winning student at University of Toronto law school. She articled and practiced with prestigious law firms in downtown Toronto before opening her own law office in Orangeville.

Sylvia, as she is known to most in the riding, doesn't outline her personal background beyond saying she has lived in Dufferin for more than 20 years with her husband, David Gillies, and has worked in the political arena for 15 of those years. The couple has two children.

The PC candidate says Premier Dalton McGuinty "is quick to act when it comes to his year-end slush fund and shovelling taxpayers' money out the door as quick as possible. But he's painfully slow to move when it comes to protecting homeowners. As a result, he has allowed Ontario's property assessment system to spiral out of control. It was only when the provincial Ombudsman released a scathing report revealing the arrogance and unfairness taxpayers were experiencing that Dalton McGuinty even acknowledged there was a problem."

In response to the report, Mr. McGuinty placed a temporary freeze on property assessments until 2008, after the provincial election. More recently, the Liberals announced that future property assessment increases would be phased in over a period of four years.

"This amounts to little more than providing Dufferin Caledon's homeowners on fixed incomes with four years to pack up before they lose their homes," said Ms. Jones, who has served as Mr. Tory's executive assistant.Rob Strang is a graduate in chemical engineering at Queen's University, a founding member of Power-Up Renewable Energy Co-op, founder of an industrial hygiene company, as well as part of a group that bought Mansfield Outdoor Centre.

He and his wife, Bernadette Hardaker, have lived in Orangeville since 1988. They have three daughters.

Ms. McDougall was at one time a professional singer, but she isn't known to speak much about that bygone career. She is single, and has pursued her teaching and federation careers diligently in the Dufferin and Upper Grand boards of education.