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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday December 1, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver 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 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 NEIL OLIVER Publisher DAVE HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager 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, MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver is a division of Guest Columnist Halton needs action on infrastructure Ted Chudleigh Halton MPP The people I represent all share the difficulties presented by living in high growth areas. Infrastructure ­ the lack of it, the planning for it, and the building of it, are all top of mind concerns in Halton. The web of roads, rails, schools, hospitals, parks, bridges, and water systems form the skeleton of public services which allow for modern human habitation. As new neighbourhoods are welded to our existing urban areas people in Halton are very much aware of how this web affects daily life. There is much we can do to improve our existing infrastructure including road and rail improvements, using existing transit corridors in new ways, such as adding rails in highway right of ways or allowing buses, with special attachments, to ride the rails. We must fast track our much needed hospital expansion, and improve local road design. GO Transit is drowning in its own success. Parking lots are nearly at capacity. While additional parking is a short term solution, perhaps it is time to move to preferred parking for cars that bring more than one passenger. This would encourage neighbours to drive together and open existing spots. I believe that we must build more GO capacity. The best way to do it is with dedicated GO rails, rather than sharing the rails with freight trains. With dedicated rails we could radically alter schedules with more trains, and more frequent trains. We could even allow buses to use the rails. Additionally we need to decentralize the GTA and take the commuting pressure off downtown Toronto. We could achieve this by the construction of an additional line, one that would link with current lines and create hubs outside of Union Station that could become areas for future development. We could also look at tax breaks on money spent moving closer to a job. It's expensive to move. By making money spent on a move tax deductible, we can encourage people to move closer to where they work. That reduces transportation needs; it saves on gas and environmental emissions through reduced commuting time. All around it's a winner. Our local road network can be improved at least with the use of synchronized traffic lights on a few selected routes. Additionally, we should be moving away from an emphasis on arterial roads and back to a grid system which decentralizes the use of major roads by spreading the traffic across many more routes. Our local health care service, particularly Oakville's new hospital, is tragically behind the curve. Oakville is rapidly expanding, but its hospital is not. It will take years to move through the planning and construction phases but the current government continues to drag its feet. Now I have done virtually everything I can to light a fire under them. I will continue to work on this issue. Oakville has a real opportunity with Glenorchy Park to create something unique. In the end the interface between the park and the surrounding built up area, how the homes and commercial enterprises mesh with the park will tell the tale of its value to the community. It would be a shame to waste such a great opportunity. Ted Chudleigh 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 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 Trying to butter up the kids and keep a cap on Christmas O ne of our sons was about to retire to his room to compose his annual Christmas wish list. Before he departed, I took his hands in mine, looked into eyes and told him that I love him, that I am unworthy to have him as a son, that I am envious of his attire, and that his hair was looking coolly coiffed. In actual fact, his attire was atrocious and his hair was an unruly mop, but I was intent on crushing him with kindness. I'll readily admit, dear readers, that I'm not a wholesale believer in popular psychology. I have yet to plan a play date with my Inner Child, and I rarely get in touch with the Iron Man or the Girlie Boy in me. But when I read that researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered that a child's desire for material objects is directly tethered to his or her self-esteem, well, I thought this whole psychology stuff may well be worth another look-see. I mean, at this time of year it might just save me a few bucks. As my son made his way down the hall toward his room, I pumped my lungs full of hot air and inflated that old self-esteem of his even more by calling out that his taste in music was impeccable, that every thought he'd ever had was sheer genius, and that he was, as they say, "All that and a bag of potato chips!" Then his door closed and his fingers began a keyboard composition of the things he wanted for Christmas. Now, according to the Minnesota research, the weaker a child's self-esteem, the greater their desire for the material possessions that are typically associated with adolescent popularity ­ in other words, the stuff that costs the most coin; Andy Juniper the fancy game systems, the pricey technology, and the bling. Conversely, the higher a child's selfesteem, the lower their recorded materialism. In support of this point the researchers reported that children (ages 12-13) at a summer camp who were given paper plates adorned with compliments such as "smart" and "fun" immediately "reigned in their materialistic tendencies." Further, the researchers said that parents who buy the affections of their offspring are actually serving to stifle self-esteem. One researcher noted that this vicious circle ends up "creating a Britney Spears effect." Wherein, I suppose, the child grows up, makes millions, marries an oaf, carelessly procreates, spon- taneously swims in her underwear in the ocean, parties without her underwear in the city, shaves her head, incurs numerous traffic citations, loses custody of her children, and frequently appears in public looking dazed and confused. Of course, I want my kids to have high self-esteem. I don't want them to end up like Ms. Spears. And I sure would like to reduce the colossal cost of Christmas. So, I fired off e-mails to all my kids, saying, simply: You're Special! It took a few hours, but our son eventually emerged from his room with list in hand. I told him he had wonderfully formed fingers and magnificent cuticles and then I took the proffered list. He looked at me strangely, like I was crazy, then turned and began making his way back to his room, back to his computer that we bought him last Christmas because, well, probably because his self-esteem was so low that he actually asked for it! I read the first three items on his list. I contemplated the fourth mortgage we were going to have to take out to cover Christmas and then I shouted to his departing back: "Hey, Britney, do you think money grows on Christmas trees?" Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.