Each year, September 8th marks International Literacy Day, celebrated by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). On a local scale, several groups have partnered together to raise awareness of events promoting literacy and lifelong learning in the Region of Peel.

Throughout the month of September, Ontario Works, Children's Services and the Peel-Halton-Dufferin Adult Learning Network will work to highlight the importance of literacy programs available to Peel residents. A variety of events will be held across the Region, including the Brampton Festival of Learning, Drop Everything and Read in Mississauga, and Pajama Night Read Together in Caledon.

Last year in Peel, adult literacy programs delivered more than 275,000 hours of training to more than 2,100 learners. Commemoration of Literacy Month acknowledges literacy as a foundation for individual success, and future social and economic development in the Peel community.

On June 16, 2006, the Ontario Government announced its five-year plan for improvement and rehabilitation of highways in Southern Ontario. $3.4 billion has been pledged to reduce congestion and improve safety on highways.

Along with investing in transit infrastructure, the Southern Ontario Highways Program (SOHP) is intended to expand the provincial highway system by 130 kilometres; repair 1,600 kilometres of highways and 200 bridges; and maintain the Ontario record of having the safest roads in North America.

In the Region of Peel, key road projects will include the continued development of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on Highway 403; a new interchange and widening of Highway 401 in Mississauga; and the extension of Highway 410.

Council is also requesting the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to design and expedite other Peel-based road projects and to add them to the SOHP, in concurrence with the program mandate to improve quality of life for growing municipalities.

The public meeting will commence at 9:30 a.m., followed immediately by the regularly scheduled General Committee meeting in the Council Chambers at 10 Peel Centre Dr., Brampton.

The purpose of holding the public meeting is to inform the public and to obtain their input with respect to a proposed amendment to the Region of Peel Official Plan. The draft amendment will include updates to both urban and rural population, household and employment forecasts until the year 2031. The draft will be circulated to the Province of Ontario, the Cities of Brampton and Mississauga, and the Town of Caledon for their review.

Regional Council approved the recommendations of an Environmental Study Report (ESR) for Dixie Road, which will see the current four lanes expanded to six lanes north of Steeles Avenue. A main feature of this expansion will be the twinning and widening of the existing Canadian National Railway (CNR) bridge structure over Dixie Road.

The Region, GO Transit and CNR will enter into an agreement for cost-sharing of these works. CNR will be the project lead for the proposed bridge structure works, which will also accommodate an additional railway track - part of the GO Transit 10-Year Growth Program. Construction on Dixie Road will commence in 2008.

The delivery plan for participation in the Federal/Provincial Affordable Housing Program (AHP) will see $39.1 million in Wave 1 for rental and supportive housing projects within the Region, and makes Peel one of the first municipalities in Ontario to endorse a delivery plan.

Approval of the delivery plan means that staff can now proceed with the application process to obtain $1.25 million from the AHP. This funding will be used to support the capital costs for the Walker Road Expansion Project - a two-storey, 25-unit senior's housing project located at 20 Walker Road in Caledon East. The new facility will also feature a drop-in centre for seniors in Caledon.

The Wave 1 allocation represents the most ambitious affordable housing funding program since the early 1990s and will help the Region provide opportunities to achieve the greatest possible number of affordable housing options for Peel citizens.