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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday March 21, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS 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 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS A DIVISION OF Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Budgeting for votes Monday's budget announcement saw Jim Flaherty put on a demonstration that would have made the most adept tightrope walker proud. As the finance minister dangled the carrot of increased federal spending, tax cuts and debt reduction in front of his political opponents, Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois took a bite -- giving Stephen Harper's Conservative government all the support it needs to pass the budget and avoid a non-confidence vote. We may find out how hungry Canadian voters were for this budget as early as this spring. If the Conservatives have accurately gauged the mood of the electorate, this mix of provincial transfer payments, tax credits for working families and billions in equalization payments for Quebec will have provided the perfect prelude to a 2007 federal election. Still, Flaherty sent some mixed messages on Monday -- offering this ominous warning to news media during the budget day lockup: "The day in Canada of governments with their hands out to other governments are passing," said Flaherty. "It's time for governments to be self-reliant and to be answerable to their own taxpayers, which is one of the benefits of fiscal balance." Apparently Flaherty wasn't referring to this year -- or next. Federal transfer payments in the budget provide Ontario with $2.33 billion over the next two years and give Quebec $2.3 billion for 2007-08 -- assuming, of course, Harper's crew is returned if there's an election. The increased transfer payment news is good for Ontario and will likely see Halton politicians continue to pressure Premier Dalton McGuinty to show them some infrastructure money to help the region cope with the next two decades of projected growth. This was not a budget that targeted every Canadian. It was a budget that took dead aim at scoring strategic votes. It was about securing a future for Harper's party -- both in the House of Commons and in the house of popular opinion. With Duceppe's support, Harper finds himself free to call an election on his terms. The Conservatives appear to have recycled some of their own pre-election strategies by promising just enough to the Canadian population to put them over the top on election day. This potent combination of a budget chock full of goodies and Harper's edge in popularity over Liberal leader Stephane Dion should add up to an election call sooner than later. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR I read with sadness Raychyl Whyte's letter encouraging Pro Life to concentrate on Pro-Quality of life, Oakville Beaver, March 16. I fully support the Beaver's responsibility to put paid advertising from Pro-Life or Pro-Choice in your paper. From a purely logical point of view most abortions do not need to happen. Three conditions suggest a real need and those are incest, rape and Most abortions are preventable when the mother's life will be at peril if the pregnancy were to come to full term. With the figure of 100,000 abortions a year in Canada recently quoted in the National Post, I think that the Pro-Life groups are concentrating on quality of life. So many couples would love to adopt babies in Canada, but have to go overseas to find available newborns, because abortion is used as a post sexual birth control method and justified by demanding individual rights. I think it is `high' time we take the `green' approach to providing adoptable children; let us use Canadian newborns. This would save thousands of dollars and help both birth mothers and adoptive mothers. JOHN S. KAY Saddened by letter I was saddened by Raychyl Whyte's letter encouraging Pro Life to concentrate on Pro-Quality of life, Oakville Beaver, March 16. What an unhappy perspective! Firstly, attacking those who disagree with you is not good. It stifles debate. Not all those who disagree with you are necessarily all the bad things you suggest (imperialist, affluent, patriarchy, theocratic etc). Secondly, an advert is an advert, not an academic paper. If you need more information on the Pro-Life position, call them! Thirdly, you raise many good points on the challenges of bringing babies into the world. Those that are Pro-Life probably agree with you on all of them. Nobody wants more suffering. Where they disagree is that killing the babies is the solution to these challenges. There is a better way, let's find it. Babies are wonderful and vital to our future. If they are born into challenging situations, let's deal with those, let's not kill the children! CHRIS SMYTH Editor's note: More responses to Raychyl Whyte's letter can be found in the Opinion & Letters section of oakvillebeaver.com. 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. Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com