At the Norfolk County Fair in Simcoe that was held from Oct 3rd to Oct 9th, 2017 I spent a lot of time at the Federal and Provincial Liberal booth in the exhibition hall.

We had a staggering amount of People stopping at the Liberal booth expressing that they are not happy with the current representation at Queen’s Park and offering to support the Liberals.

Even the visit by Patrick Brown at the fair did not help his Wing-man (current H-N MPP) to gain traction and resulted only in a Brown typical attack propaganda speech promising to do things the Liberal Government is already doing.

In his interview with the Simcoe Reformer, he said he would work out exemptions to the $ 15 hourly minimum wage.

I met veteran Liberal Deputy Premier Deb Matthews not long ago in London and we talked about the minimum wage and that it will create a challenge in some sectors such as agriculture.

She told me that the Government is actively working on a plan to help not only the farmers but also small businesses and the food industry. They are listening to the feedback they are getting and will tailor the help program to support the affected sectors to lengthen the introductory period of the new wage – exactly what Mr. Brown is offering as his platform.

Once in office, I will work with and for the agricultural community. Being a farmer myself I understand the difficulties and challenges farmers in Haldimand-Norfolk and in all of Ontario are faced with. Off-shore workers, for example, are an integral part of our agricultural industry and many farmers are depending on it. I would like to sit down with all groups and stakeholders to address these concerns and come up with a plan to present at Queen’s Park. One way might be to offset the additional costs any farmer using off-shore workers incurs to a higher degree against the wage than at the present, but there will be other ways and suggestions on what and how we can deal with the challenges and difficulties. I will speak at Queen’s Park on behalf of our farming community fighting for you once I have the opportunity.

Patrick Brown is the king of misrepresentation, wrong statements, and false claims

He stated in the interview that “The Senior Lieutenants” in Kathleen Wynne’s government ‘don’t want another encounter with voters’. First of all, there are no Lieutenants in the Liberal Government. Our parliament is not a military organization. It might be in Mr. Brown’s government but then I fear for Ontario.

Deputy Minister Deb Matthews and Minister Liz Sandals are stepping back after many years of service to our Province and I want to thank them for the time and enormous effort they gave during their time in Parliament. What Patrick Brown calls “not wanting another encounter with voters” is a gross misrepresentation of “not standing for re-election”. I indeed think that ‘the public is fed up’ as he said! They are fed up with Patrick Brown’s negativity and unfounded attacks and being lied to.

Voter – be aware! Do not believe what Patrick Brown says just because he is saying it many times. That does not make anything true.

When Patrick Brown said that ‘this speaks to a greater momentum for change’ I hope he is right. We need a change in Haldimand-Norfolk’s leadership at the Provincial level.

Haldimand-Norfolk needs a Liberal voice at Queens Park.

Dan Matten – Liberal

Dan Matten (Liberal)