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THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2007 THE NEW TANNER 7 GRAPEVINE with Mike OLeary The Way I See It Hello, new floor Lucky Barb Harden who will get new hardwood floors sooner than expected for her Acton home after winning a $500 gift card in a Home Hardware Christmas sweepstakes draw. Harnden eyed several samples of flooring and asked Acton Home Hardware owner Bill Manes if hed install it when she picked up her prize as one of 50-second place winners in the Canada-wide draw. I never won anything before this, Harnden said, adding shes a loyal Home Hardware customer who is glad she filled out the bal- lot. Fun fundraiser A date with Acton Council- lor/businessman/ cancer campaign booster Clark Somerville is the prize in a fundraiser for the Acton branch of the Canadian Cancer Society. Elaine Thomas, the chair of next years residential campaign, is staging a silent auction starting bid $100 for an evening out with Somerville on April 28. The evening includes a hair ap- pointment at Blue Springs Spa, dinner at Tanners Pub & Grill (which Somerville manages) and tickets to the Acton Angels dance at the Legion. The Angels are a group of Acton women who raise money for breast cancer research through numerous special events and by participating in the an- nual Weekend to End breast cancer. The bid sheet for the silent auction single females only, please will be in Blue Springs Spa on Mill Street from March 26 to April 22 at 5 p.m. For deta i l s ca l l Elaine at 905-702- 8564. Multiple benefits Artwork on display at Blue Springs Spa and Salon not only looks great it provides a fundrais- ing opportunity for local groups as a portion of all sales will be do- nated by artist Kelly MacIntryre to the buyers charity of choice. Blue Springs owner Kristine Cieslok said shes glad to show- case MacIntyres beautiful work that will be on display until a gal- lery show at the Spas annual client appreciation night in April. Cancer volunteer A personal brush with cancer a mother-in-laws death to the disease helped convince Elaine Thomas to volunteer to chair Actons residential door-to-door campaign for cancer funds next year. So many people are touched by the disease I want to help, Thomas said, adding retiring resi- dential campaign chair Liz Bailey, who did the job for 18 years, has graciously offered to show her the ropes this year. Actons door-to-door campaign last April raised approximately $33,000. The Acton branch of the Ca- nadian Cancer Society holds its campaign kickoff and volunteer appreciation on March 28 at 6 p.m., in Knox Presbyterian Church. Heres a neat idea tax our air The environment is the lead news story on almost every telecast. The feds have been throwing so much money at the problem that well probably have to cut down thou- sands of trees to print more money. All of the educated professional environmentalists are desperately trying to keep face while a failed politician steals the show and their cause. I mean, Al Gores only other claim to fame was his somewhat incredulous assertion that he had invented the internet. Marshall MacLuhans proposition that the medium is the message has been proven yet again. I have no doubt that Al Gores documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, is based on fact. Simi- larly, I have no doubt that no one was more surprised than Al Gore himself by his sudden resurrection as the darling of the Greens. Im still not sure, as some American political analysts claim, that he will use this sudden positive profile as a springboard to the big chair in Washington. The reason for my hesitancy is the fact that Big Al in his personal life is no friend of the environment. Its said his home (mansion) in Tennessee used 20 times the energy as the average home. To be fair, Gore claims he offsets this extravagance by pur- chasing Green Energy Credits from a company in New York. The problem with that is, hes a partner in the company. It just seems to me that someone who claims to be a champion of the environmentally friendly, shouldnt be adding 19 times the greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere while the rest of us are being accused of being wastrels. We wont even talk about what jet exhaust adds to greenhouse gasses. It should be noted, and our pal Al has the girth to prove it, that smokey the Gore doesnt travel much by bicycle. Speaking of things environ- mental, I noticed an article in the Globe and Mail a few months ago regarding the 100 most sustain- able international companies. Specifically, I note that Trans- Canada Corp. made the list for the first time. Trans Canada Corp. is the parent company of Trans Canada Energy who are building the gas generat- ing facility in the 401 corridor here in Halton Hills. As well as their portfolio of pipelines and power plants, Trans Canada has a large wind power farm in Quebec with more such installations in the plan- ning stages. The company has been trying to put a balanced emphasis on environ- mental issues, safety concerns and maintaining good relations with their neighbours. Ive noticed that this attitude of corporate involvement in local communities has become more prevalent in recent years. Its a far cry from the old attitudes and a welcome change. The other Canadian companies on the 100 most sustainable list were Royal Bank of Canada, Enbridge Inc. (the gas people), Sun Life Fi- nancial and Alcan Inc. I must admit to being somewhat confused at Banks, financial institutions and an aluminum company being on such a prestigious register but I bow to the experts. The trick seems to be in the defini- tion of sustainability. This seems to be the most recent buzz-word in the environmental community. Ive heard it more and more the past few years but then I havent been heavily involved in the save-our-world pack since I blew a flat in my left Birken- stock and had to go to work. But as I read further I noticed that investment firms J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Yankee insurance giant Ameri- can International Group Inc. made the list for the first time this year. Curious no? I thought the only green in their corporate culture was the money in their vaults. Then the article went on to say that financial firms are increasingly getting involved in climate change issues. How, I thought, are these money managers involved in sus- tainable enterprises? The answer is obvious. They have seen a market- ing opportunity in the greenhouse gas emissions trading systems. This commodities market is one of the reasons I have little or no use for the Kyoto Accord. Yes, my friends, large financial groups have finally figured out a way to accomplish what govern- ments from time immemorial have not been able to do. Put a tax on air! God bless free enterprise and capitalism. I intuitively knew that, like non-profit housing, there was money to be made off this ecology thing. Heres how I see it working: Canada buys Green Credits from someone. Guess who pays for that? And who would our government send our tax dollars to? Probably not direct to the third world pol- luting country. Oh no, they would patronize the financial institutions who are probably buying up pol- luted air credits as you read this. Now the financial institutions are not generally known to be altruistic. So they will probably take a few interest points (truth- ful people call that vigorish) and provide the necessary credits to Canada. Of course, since they had bought the credits in advance they would be honour-bound to charge them a few points (more vig) on the investment. This emissions trading system is the perfect shell game. Nothing to produce, nothing to ship, nothing to store, minimal staff (except for government who will have to have large staffs to handle these transac- tions) and so on. Perhaps my interpretation is wrong. Perhaps government and money managers will just trade the credits. Perhaps the ordinary taxpayers wont end up with a giant green screw impaling them. Or, perhaps all this double deal- ing wont cost us an extra cent in taxes. You really think so? Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha. Stop it! WILD, WILD WEST?: No, this photo is of Acton Gun Club members back in 1891. Identifications are uncertain but someon named them like this: Seated (maybe) George Agnew, C. Falkon (?), M. Cobban, Dr. Lowry sitting on the barrel, W. Jeans (?), Charlie Speight (who likely took the picture using a string to shutter), Hiram Worden; standing James Moore, C. Quittner, George Wilds, J. Barrow, Charles Taylor, Edward Nicklin, James Harvey, W. Stark. This must have been dress-up day. From the March 23, 2006 pages of The New Tanner. One year ago: As family and friends laid Actons Heather Boyd to rest Halton police investigated a couple of other aspects of the train-car crash that killed the 27-year old woman at a level rail cross- ing west of Acton. In other news: Halton Council will accelerate replacement of the water and sewer mains in the Eastern Avenue area to coordinate with the Towns $500,000 spring reconstruction of the narrow and pothole-riddled road. From the March 21, 2002 pages of The New Tanner. Five years ago: With sirens wailing, Halton police chased a stolen van carrying six Hamilton youths through the streets of downtown Acton, finally stopping the vehicle and arresting all six, reportedly on their way to a residence on the Sixth Line. In other news: Residents raised concerns about revised plans for the Rinarin Hon- eyfield subdivision, resulting in smaller lots, more lots and a storm water management pond, at a public meeting. LOYAL CUSTOMER: Actons Barb Harn- den picked up a $500 Home Hardware gift card a prize in a Christmas sweepstakes from Acton Home owner Bill Manes on Monday. Frances Niblock photo