4 Editorial with Frances Niblock THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011 Inclusivity and equity? Will Halton Catholic students with different sexualities feel more welcome and valued with a board of education proposal to set up By Your SIDE (safety, inclusivity and equity) Spaces, instead of gay-straight-alliances in Halton schools? Let's hope so. Faced with hundreds of comments from parents who told the board they don't want gay-straight alliances in their kid's schools, the Halton Catholic District School Board's policy development committee voted on Tuesday to allow the By Your SIDE Spaces. That vote is expected to be ratified at the board's April 5 meeting. One student trustee said students would welcome the SIDE Spaces because they would deal with more than just homophobia, but some parents called gaystraight clubs a sin that flies in the face of Catholic Church views on homosexuality, which accepts the homosexuals, but not the homosexual act. New equity and inclusion policies in Ontario requires boards of education to ban all discrimination and set up gay-straight alliances or peer forums to help students regardless of race, sexual orientation, origin or ability. Time will tell whether the SIDE Spaces will work, but it is an improvement over the board's earlier total ban on gay-straight alliances. MARCH BREAK MUSIC: For Acton's Michael Barriault (drums) and Jake Arsenault, 16, March Break included epic Guitar Hero battles at Acton's Off The Wall youth centre. Frances Niblock photo Angela says...Stand up and deliver I am completely frustrated. Up until two weeks ago I was just continually annoyed but it has now reached the boiling point as they say. A year ago Christmas time, my sister asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I've reached that magical yet sad stage in my life where, honestly, I really didn't need anything. Granted we all have things we want, but it Christmas, was now about Little J, not me. After thinking, I suggested she get me a subscription to my guilty pleasure, People Magazine. Over the last few years, I have been quite consumed with its crossword puzzle. I'm not a crossword person, however this seems to be the only one I can actually complete, and who doesn't like celebrity "dirt?" In January, my guilt would usually arrive on Friday. The magazine wasn't available in town until Tuesday, and I felt a sense of privilege having my reading, usually in time for the weekend. My enthusiasm started to diminish as spring turned to summer when on Fridays, I would almost prance to the mailbox in anticipation and often be deflated, finding only a few newspapers and junk mail. What By Angela Tyler the heck is the sense of getting a subscription that is supposed to arrive before it is available in the newsstands, only to have it arrive a few days, or even a week on a few occasions, late? I decided it was time to call those people at People and find out what the heck was going on. The customer service representative was great. He apologized, said he would check into it, and even extended my subscription a few weeks to ease my pain and suffering. I was a short-lived happy reader again. I say shortlived because his checking into it never changed anything. So I called again. This time, People and I had an in-depth conversation which educated me more on their distribution system and they suggested I contact Canada Post, which I did immediately and gave them my story. Weeks later, I did get a call from our post office. Once again, I explained and recapped my delivery dilemmas. I was then educated on their distribution of the mail. In response to Looking Back Ten Years Ago · No news is good news as local officials wait to hear if Magna International will build a truck parts plant in Acton. · The Town's new econom ic development officer, Allen O'Neill, predicts Acton will soon see the fruits of growing industrial potential. · Acton youth five-pin bowler, Kylie Kruk, won a Silver medal at the Four Steps to Stardom Zone finals. Five Years Ago · As family and friends mourn Acton's Heather Boyd, 27, police continue to investigate the car-train crash at Dublin Line and Highway 7 that took her life. · Acton's Shirley Broostad received an Ontario Senior Achievement Award for the creativity, enthusiasm and warmth she brings to her advocacy work for local seniors. · Halton will coordinate replacing water and sewers on Eastern Avenue to coincide with the Town's $500,000 spring reconstruction project. a separate issue about receiving mail from someone with a similar name, I was disturbed with the explanation that rural delivery was "sometimes hit and miss" with similar or same names. Huh? What? Sorry, but that doesn't fly with me because every rural property has a number, no different than an in town address. Hit and miss was this the reason for my erratic delivery days? At that point, Canada Post monitored and date stamped my magazine for about a month or so, found it was usually delivered on Monday to Tuesday and closed the file and all was grand in their eyes. Wouldn't you know it, the next week after they stopped monitoring it, my People arrived on the Wednesday, and this past Monday, I received the last two issues on the same day. I did call the people at People again, however, when it comes right down to it, my guilty pleasure is in the hands of Canada Post, at least until next January when my subscription runs out and I go back to buying it at the store on Tuesday. Because, at least then, I know exactly what day I can get to work on the crossword puzzle. Publisher Ted Tyler Editor Frances Niblock Distributed to every home in Acton and area, as well as adjoining communities. 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. Editorial Contributors Mike O'Leary Angela Tyler Kelly Kennedy email: thenewtanner@on.aibn.com 373 Queen Street East, Unit 1 Acton, Ontario L7J 2N2 Advertising and Circulation Marie Shadbolt (519) 853-0051 Fax: (519) 853-0052 Composing Ken Baker