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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday October 20, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com 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 NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production Metroland Media Group Ltd. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver is a division of Moving forward Kevin Flynn Oakville MPP n Oct. 10, Oakville and Ontarians across the province chose to continue working together to build on the progress we have achieved in the last Kevin Flynn four years. I want to thank you for the trust that you have placed in me, and for the honour of continuing to work on your behalf at Queen's Park. As I knocked on doors, and talked with many of you at community events, you told me that Ontario is back on track, but that there is more to do. I know we can continue to make progress ­ by working and building and dreaming together. Our province's schools, hospitals, environment, and infrastructure have all been strengthened by the important investments over the last four years. The results are clear and the change our government implemented is working. But Ontario is about more than appreciating how far we've come. It's about seeing how much further we can go. Our province is about realizing our true potential -- as individuals, and as families and businesses. The Ontario Liberal Platform we presented will build on the progress we have made and focus on five key areas: · A smarter Ontario: Excellence in publicly funded schools; · A stronger Ontario: Creating jobs in today's economy; · A healthier Ontario: Strengthening medicare for the future; · A greener Ontario: Leading on the environment; · A better Ontario for families: Improving quality of life. Building on our successes in education, we intend to appoint an early learning advisor to advise the Premier on developing and funding a full-day pre-school program for Ontario's kids. We will build on our class size reductions in the early years by investing to expand reductions to grades 4-8. We will also continue to support our post secondary students and institutions with initiatives like increasing new apprenticeships by a full 25 per cent. We believe that moving forward in the global economy demands that government be more than a spectator. It has to champion our people and our businesses. Through the Next Generation Jobs Fund, our government is committed to building a forward-looking economy that invests in greener jobs, cutting-edge technology, and will ensure Ontario's competitive advantage remains firm. A strong economy must also be one that creates opportunities for all Ontarians. I'm extremely proud to be part of a government that will build a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy around the Ontario Child Benefit. Our first steps will be to support dental services for low-income Ontario families. In healthcare, we will work to expand our progress on wait times to more services: emergency room visits, children's surgery and general surgery. With an additional $100 million in growth funding for hospitals in our fastest growing communities, our government is listening to the needs of our community. My door will remain open, and I am committed to reaching out to all members and organizations in Oakville to ensure our community remains vibrant and progressive. Let's roll up our sleeves and keep moving forward together. IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian O RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION Celine (pop diva) Dion is taking chances and playing with fire Celine Dion is Taking Chances. And I'm taking Gravol. In case you haven't heard, celestial Celine, the pop diva Dion, has completely repackaged herself and on Nov. 12 she plans to unleash upon innocent and unsuspecting ears, a new album of genre-jumping rock songs. That's right, rock songs. I heard the news last weekend and it was all I could do to not run out onto the street, find an angry pit bull, further agitate it with a sharp stick and hope that it would rip my ears off, sparing me the future pain of actually hearing this CD. You see, I love rock 'n roll, while the feelings I harbour for Celine Dion are somewhat less affectionate. No, I've never been a big fan of the artist about whom Rolling Stone magazine once noted: "She has always used her voice as a club with which to bonk listeners"; suffice to say, hearing that Celine intends to invade my musical territory, the sacred ground of rock 'n roll, is almost too much to bear. Okay, devotees of Dion ­ and I'm all too aware that she has a fabulous flock of fans ­ please save your ire, and your letters of indignation and outrage, and your threats (what, are you going to make me listen to My Heart Will Go On, over and over?). From the outset I will graciously grant you that Ms. Dion is a huge international recording star who has had an extended and extraordinary career whilst racking up an ungodly amount of album sales -- more than 200-million worldwide, making her the topselling female pop artist to date. Further, she is in the throes of wrapping up a wildly successful four-plusyear Las Vegas theatrical show called A New Day. So, I'll grant you that she Andy Juniper must being doing something right. But that doesn't mean that I have to like what she does. And it certainly doesn't mean I have to take lightly her invasion of my turf. To me, Celine Dion is the overrated, schmaltzy vocal version of a Hallmark Card. And Hallmark Cards have no place in rock 'n roll. Not even in today's watered-down rock 'n roll. To that end I once again quote the venerable Rolling Stone: "She (Dion) stands at the end of a chain of drastic devolution that goes Aretha-Whitney-Mariah. "Far from being an aberration, Dion actually stands as a symbol of a certain kind of pop sensibility ­ bigger is better, too much is never enough, and the riper the emotion the more true." So, how can I be so certain that Taking Chances will be monumentally, indeed Titanically appalling? This is not the first time that Ms. Dion has dabbled in the rock genre. You may recall previous misadventures such as her cover of I Drove All Night, a song originally written for, and recorded by, Roy Orbison. Yes, she scored a minor hit with the song, but her version was an abomination to discerning ears everywhere. Even the Cyndi Lauper version was a thousand-times better. Taking Chances sees The Queen Of Oversing And Bombast taking on the likes of Heart, the Doobie Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Janis Joplin (who is surely rolling over in her grave). Just the thought of Ms. Dion wrapping her bursting pipes around a Joplin song makes me think I'd better run out and track down that angry pit bull. Celestial Celine is doing a rock album. The Rock Apocalypse (Rockalypse?) is near. Apparently the diva Dion has decided to kill me (and not softly) with her songs. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.