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THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 6 Distributed to every home in Acton and area, as well as adjoining communities. 373 Queen Street East, Unit 1 Acton, Ontario L7J 2N2 email: thenewtanner@on.aibn.com Mike OLeary Frances Niblock Angela Tyler Rebecca Ring Publisher Editor Ted Tyler Hartley Coles Editorial Contributors Advertising and Circulation Composing Marie Shadbolt Ken Baker Tracey Gardner By Angela Tyler Editorial with Hartley Coles (519) 853-0051 Fax: (519) 853-0052 Every effort will be made to see advertising copy, neatly presented, is correctly printed. The publisher assumes no financial responsibility for typographical errors or omissions in advertising, but will gladly reprint without charge that part of an advertisement in which an error may occur provided a claim is made within five days of publication. All articles, advertisements and graphic artwork appearing in The New Tanner is copyrighted. Any usage, reproduction or publication of these items, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the publisher of The New Tanner is a copyright infringement and subject to legal action. When one is wearied by the constant stream of information about global warming, the oil sands and climate change, it is refreshing to read some facts about the actual part Canada plays in our ongoing fascination with the abundant theories. Even if they do come from the Premier of Alberta Ed Stel- mach, who some might think is hardly impartial about the oil sands. Stelmach, who took over from the controversial Ralph Klein as premier, was in Toronto recently to speak at a luncheon sponsored by the Canadian Council for Public Private Part- nerships told it straight as he saw it. Canada, he asserted, is responsible for 2 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and the oil sands in his province which comprise an area about the size of New York State, account for about 5 per cent of Canadas emissions. Contrary to what most of us have heard, Stelmach says 80 per cent of the resource will be developed using drilling techniques that involve disruption of the land. He acknow- ledged that the other 20 per cent thats being extracted using surface mining involves significant disruption. However, he pointed out, oil sands leases must be restored to their natural state by law. About 13 percent is already undergoing rehab. Stelmach noted that Alberta was the first province to track GHGs, and the first to legislate targets for large emitters. Companies have made 2.6 million tones of reductions the equivalent of taking 550,000 cars off the road. Alberta has also committed $4 billion toward climate change initiative including $2 billion for public transit and $2 billion for car- bon capture and storage (CCS), the largest investment in the world. We havent the space to include all Stelmachs facts in this piece but it is obvious that much of what we have been fed about the problems Alberta is creating are not always based on facts. As Stelmach says Albertas energy resources are an advantage for our country attracting continued investment and creating desperately needed jobs. Where else can the unemployed go besides Alberta to find a good job these days? Stelmachs right Our house has tales to tell When we looked at our now house, I felt odd seeing it. The elderly lady who lived there was in the hospital and the kids were selling her house. I felt bad. The lady probably didnt know what was going on and here we were going through her house seeing all her stuff and deciding if it would be right for us. I had only looked at the house once. That was all I could handle. I told the Dude I would also like the house, but I couldnt go there again until it was ours. I felt too bad. All the pictures of her family were around. Her medical sup- plies were apparent. It was still her house and when it became our house I didnt want to have the memories of it belonging to someone else. When we moved in, it was a schmozzle. The ladys movers were still there. Her stuff was still there and it was something I didnt want to happen. I just wished all of the ladys stuff to be gone so we could tear it apart and make it ours. It wasnt anything against the lady, I just didnt want to think of our new pad as hers. The odd thing was, after we moved in and I started placing trin- kets and pictures here and there, I did something out of character. I came from a family, who al- though was religious in their own sense, wasnt shall we say, Sunday church-going folk. I hung a cross necklace that a relative had given me in our living room. I still dont know why I did that, but I did. There had been odd things here and there over the past year and a half. I first chalked it up to what- ever. Then I started to think about it more. I have always been a fan of the horror movie, or the whodunit stor- ies on t.v. and even the true crime books and shows. I have a whole collection of crime books includ- ing a book about serial killers. I watch all the movies including Amityville Horror as a spectator, not as a believer. However, I am starting to change my thinking. Why did I decide to hang a cross in our living room when I am not that type, and neither is the Dude? I still cant answer that. Moreover, why does our door bell ring when there is nobody there or anywhere in sight down the road? At first I chalked it up to kids being kidsringing door bells and hiding. However, this has happened more than once. Then the dogs started staring at the ceiling late at night. It was creepy to say the least. Then they would go around the house bark- ing when absolutely nobody was around. I think our house is haunted, I told the Dude. I wasnt worried. I really dont think spirits are harmful, they just want their pres- ence known. He was skeptical to say the least. I think the lady died when she moved or maybe its her deceased husband, I told him. He wasnt buying it. The other day on the radio they had a medium on who discussed how animals will sense spirits at certain times of the day, such as morning. The dogs are absolutely AFTER THE STORM: Weather reports that warned about the large snowstorm that would strike the area Sunday night proved to be accurate. Lots of the white, wet and soggy flakes fell, making roads treacherous and driving difficult. Pedestrians had to struggle through the soggy snow until plows cleared sidewalks. This scene on Elizabeth Drive in Acton was typical. A few kilometres south of Acton at a line drawn near Speyside, there was little snow. Most of Halton was unaffected Continued pn page 7 BIG THANK YOU: Dave Dodgeson, left, of Acton Seniors Centre says a special thank you to illusionist Claude Haggerty whose show at the Robert Little School gym on Tuesday, Nov. 25 was in aid of a new seniors centre and the school. The show was sponsored by Sam and David Burland and Home Hard- ware and drew rave reviews from those who attended - Ken Baker photo