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4 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2006 314 Guelph Street, Georgetown, Ont. We service all Makes & Models Georgetown Kia Motors 905-877-7818 Serving Acton, Georgetown, Milton, Campbellville, Rockwood, Hillsburg, Glen Williams, Terra Cotta, Erin and Ballinafad. Licensed by the GTAA/ Pearson International Airport. JETLINK Airport Service PICK UP TO/ FROM YOUR DOOR - TO/ FROM TORONTO AIRPORT. CALL TO BOOK. (519) 853-1550 OR TOLL FREE A division of Tyler Transport Ltd. 1-800-73TYLER (1-800-738-9537) FIT TO BE TRIED In-home Personal Fitness Training A New Year A New You Margaret Iutzi B.A. CPTN, C.F.C. Rockwood (519) 831-3221 www.rockwoodbusiness.ca Call Guelph office to book your appointment (519) 836-8111 with Pamela Ashton www.arnoldhearing.ca ARNOLD HEARING CENTRES 77 Westmount Rd. #104, Guelph Ontario N1H 5J1 (519)836-8111 25 MAIN ST. N. ACTON Hearing Health Services: Hearing tests Programming Battery Sales Fitting Repairs Counselling M.Sc. (A),Aud(C), Reg. CASLPO We now have audiology services available in Acton Debbie Booth, Audiologist, Alternate Wednesdays See you Jan 18th 10 am - 4pm Thompson Wellness Centre Pamela Ashton BC-HIS Hearing Instrument Specialist Adding service charge to bill makes it totally transparent To the editor, A recent (December 8, 2005) editorial in The New Tanner by Hartley Coles discusses the online pay- ment service offered by Halton Hills Hydro as a convenient payment option for its customers. Mr. Coles has correctly identified that Halton Hills Hydro does not receive any revenue from the service being offered. Caledon Card Services pro- vides the online services and charges customers taking this payment option a conve- nience fee and a handling fee according to the size of the customers energy bill. For simplicity, these fees appear on your total credit charge (hydro bill + convenience fee + handling fee) and are collected for pass through to Caledon Card Service so the customer does not have to make a separate payment for this service. Mr. Coles is also correct when he notes that customers do have a choice of whether they wish to elect the on- line payment option. For example, a customer may also choose to pay be cash or cheque at the Acton ofice, or at any bank. Customers can obtain information about the various options for pay- ment by calling our customer service staff (519-853-3701) during office hours (8:30a.m. to 4:30p.m.). Mr. Coles article suggests that customers are annoyed that these extra charges occur and that other com- panies do not charge for this service. It is necessary to point out that provision of these services does have a cost and perhaps other companies simply add the charges to overhead costs or include them in the service charges that are transferred to their customers indirectly. We have chosen to ensure the costs for this service are transparent to the user and as indicated previously, Halton Hills Hydro receives no revenue from this online payment service. Electricity distribution rates are regulated and do not provide for this charge because it is each customers choice to use this service and such fees should not be subsidized and are not subsidized in electricity dis- tribution rates paid by others. Halton Hills Hydro has not made any attempt to hide the fact that the online billing services are provided at the cost of the service provider only, nor has there been any attempt to hide what those charges are. It is our inten- tion to be totally transparent about the costs of this option. By being transparent with respect to these charges, and by ensuring that only those using the service are being charged for the service and are not receiving a subsidy from the other ratepayers who do not use online bill- ing, we meet our obligations of fairness to all of our cus- tomers. Once ag a i n , o n l i n e payment has been made available to customers wish- ing to use this option. Rather than eliminate it, Halton Hills Hydro will retain the option to enable customers to enjoy the modern conve- nience of paying from their own homes or businesses. If customers electing this op- tion are dissatisfied and wish to change, there are other options available, and we will be happy to assist in the selection of the best option for the customer. Bryan D. Boyce, Chair Halton Hills Hydro Inc. Her views not mine To the editor, I read Eileen Hutchesons letters to the editor and wish to comment on one letter re: Make govt.s account- able. According to Eileen in my great country, Canada, we have a corrupt govt. who steals from us, lies to us, pol- iticians who are stupid and greedy, arrogant, etc., etc. Her opinions (not mine). Surely Eileen could we agree (maybe) that our very corrupt govt. does allow us to express our differ- ences and opinions freely. You are free to vote for your preferred political party (not mine). We can still worship in the religion of our choice and there is still freedom for our press to publish what they wish. Otherwise they would not be free to publish your many letters expressing your opinions (not always mine). Sincerely, F. Marcoux, Acton. Georgetown Optimist Clubs Santa Calls successful To the editor, All of us at the Recre- ation and Parks Department would like to extend a very special thank you to everyone who contributed to the annual Santa Calls Program. A great big heart felt thank-you to the members of the Optimist Club of Georgetown whose efforts are inspirational and have made a lasting impression on many little people in Halton Hills. In this busy world, its wonderful to know that there are indi- viduals like the Optimist members who take the time to bring joy to children. To Halton Hills parents, principals, and kindergar- ten teachers thank-you for participating in this years program and helping make it such an incredible suc- cess. Due to everyones hard work Santa was able to wish over 1,400 kinder- garten children and their families in Halton Hills a very Merry Christmas. All the Best in the New Year, Aaron Matthews, Recreation Supervisor. Instilling respect and decency To the editor, John Shadbolts letter of Jan. 5 which advocates that qualified people be allowed to legally carry guns brings to mind a fictional situa- tion I read. (Sorry, I dont remember the name of the author). In a large city where crime was rampant, the mayor decided to conduct an experiment. He ruled that in 1/2 of the city guns were totally banned. In the other half anyone and everyone could own a gun. After one year, the half where guns were banned was in chaos. Crimes of every kind had more than tripled. It was a gun-smug- glers paradise. The half where guns were allowed to everyone was crime-free. No hoodlum would dare cross the line. The few who had tried it didnt last long. Remember the days when nearly every household pos- sessed at least one gun? Yet shootings were practically unheard of. It wasnt fear of retaliation that prevented shootings from occurring; it was a combination of re- spect, decency and common sense, and yes, maybe a cer- tain fear of consequences. Maybe if we instilled those qualities in children early enough and deeply enough, guns wouldnt be a problem. Eileen Hutcheson, Acton.