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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday February 3, 2007 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Commentary Guest Columnist Regional Council to urge province to fix funding gap Gary Carr Halton Regional Chair esidents in the GTA/905 are receiving significantly less provincial funding for health and social services than the rest of Ontarians and the fundGTA/905 residents ing gap continues to grow. receive $181 less The Strong Communities Coalition, an alliance led per person for by United Ways of York, Durham, Oakville and Peel and the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance, released the report social services, and $246 less per Growing Pains, which highlights the growing funding inequities and urges the Province to take immediate person for health steps regarding the funding for these services. The care services report was based on the findings of a recent compared to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) audit: Assessing the average Ontarian. Gap in Health and Social Services Funding Between the GTA/905 and the Rest of Ontario. Growing Pains reports that the annual funding gap for provincially-funded social services in the GTA/905 has grown over the last several years to more than $550 million, while the health care gap is over $900 million. More specifically, GTA/905 residents receive $181 less per person for social services, and $246 less per person for health care services compared to the average Ontarian. The gap has widened most in developmental services and children's services (children's mental health). These factors place enormous pressures on the GTA/905's social service and health infrastructure. They are having difficulty trying to keep up with local needs, because funding has not kept pace with the growth taking place. The result is that waits for health and social services are often so long that some residents must leave their communities to get services, which means not having the support of family and friends. In many cases, residents are going without needed services. The Strong Communities Coalition made three recommendations to the Ontario Government: 1. Immediately provide growth funding for health and social services in the GTA/905 regions. 2. Revise the way the Province allocates funding for health and social services across Ontario to distribute on the basis of a population's size, growth and characteristics ­ that is, fundamentally population-based. 3. Develop a health and social services strategy for Ontario's high-growth regions to complement Places to Grow, the provincial growth plan, and develop this strategy in consultation with the GTA/905 stakeholders, including members of the Strong Communities Coalition. Halton is taking a proactive approach in including health and social service issues in its response to Places to Grow through the Durable Halton Plan. By endorsing these recommendations, Regional Council urges the provincial government to take action, along with the federal government in coming up with solutions to fix the funding gap. 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She was all aflutter and all atwitter. Now, I don't know if you've ever been aflutter or atwitter, but such things are hard to suppress. "It's official!" she squealed like a schoolgirl. "The Police are reuniting! It was just announced: they're going to play the Grammy Awards and, after that, possibly 80 dates worldwide. "Plus," she added, unable to curb her enthusiasm,"are you sitting down?" I was. I always sit when she calls because she's a prodigious gabber. "There's talk that they might record new music together!" Ah, as solo Sting once sang, "Be still my beating heart." I could fully understand my friend's excitement. Like me, she was a huge fan of Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers back in the late 1970s when they were starting out. Further, she followed the band's swift ascension to pop's pinnacle in the early `80s. In 1983, when their popularity erupted ­ when they were outselling the likes of U2, REM and The Boss, when every little thing they did was magic ­ my friend was traveling. Consequently, she witnessed Police-mania sweeping Europe, propelled by the monster album Synchronicity and the mesmerizing single Every Breath You Take: Number One in every A country she toured. Like all good bands, The Police were both driven and destroyed by conflict. Their clash of personalities and egos was renowned. Any time these three guys got together, a fight would break out. They were the musical equivalent of a scrappy hockey game. Tired of the fighting, Sting bid adieu to the band in 1984, venturing forth on what Andy Juniper would be a remarkably successful solo career and swearing ­ for 23 straight years! ­ The Police would never reunite. Granted they played one-offs -- an Amnesty International concert; their induction into The Rock `n Roll Hall of Fame ­ but each time the results were predictable: explosive music, combustible relationship. Heck, they nearly came to blows playing at Sting's wedding! Police fans have always lamented the lack of closure. They felt shortchanged by the way things ended with Sting just walking away with the band on top, with no farewell tour or final, formal goodbyes. With the approach of the 30th anniversary of the release of Roxanne, The Police's first hit single, Internet rumors began swirling that the band might reunite to commemorate the occasion -- that Sting was starting to bend. Turns out the rumors were true. The question is why? Naturally, the cynical would suggest cash. Sting's most-recent CD, a classical collection of lute tunes, will not quite pay for the upkeep and care of his beautiful beach house in Malibu, or his sprawling Lake House in England, or his fashionable apartment in New York, or his 600-acre Tuscan estate for that matter. Others cite issues of mortality and immortality. Band members aren't getting any younger (while Sting and Copeland are in their mid-50s, Summers turns 65 this year). Perhaps, it's now or never. Finally, some say Sting is driven by challenge -- that by resurrecting The Police he is not attempting to return to the glory days of yore, but, rather, he is seizing the opportunity to try and take the band in new directions, and to new heights. With the now-confirmed reunion of The Police, and incessant talk of reunions by Van Halen and Genesis, one thing is certain: according to my calendar it's 2007, but the music world would have us believe it's 1983! -- Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com