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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday January 5, 2008 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 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 MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCHOR Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver is a division of Planning ahead Kevin Flynn, Oakville MPP t this time of year many of us do our best to plan ahead. We think of how we should exercise more, save more for a rainy day, or spend more time with friends and family. From past experiences I'm sure many of us can admit it is sometimes difficult to get some of those "to do's" done. But Kevin Flynn with a plan, it becomes achievable. We are currently at a crossroads for planning in Ontario. At times we have planned carefully while at other times our province, and our very community, simply let growth occur without adequately thinking about the implications. It seems to me that we have witnessed an extraordinary renaissance in understanding how we are connected with each other. Fuelled by the recognition that our most pressing issues involve us all ­ climate change, population growth, and our local community's health and vibrancy ­ requires us to think further ahead and plan more comprehensively. As we celebrated a new year, we also celebrated one year of Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) reforms brought in by the McGuinty government, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2007. As a long-time Oakville resident I know ensuring effective community based planning is a top priority. The OMB reform introduced was lauded by many, and for good reason: · Returns it to its original role as an appeal body on local planning matters, not the main decision maker. · Requires the OMB to give greater weight to the decisions of local councils during the appeal process, and limiting appeals to information and materials that were provided to the council when it made its decision. · Enables municipalities to establish local appeals bodies for some planning decisions such as minor variances. It appears that the reforms brought to bear have been positive ones. After only 12 months appeals by the development industry in Oakville to the OMB have dropped significantly and I'm hopeful that the reforms will continue to be effective. But OMB reform was just part of what needed to be done. Most importantly, I think, we needed to ensure our communities are well thought out. They must be designed with the hard lessons we have learned about our relationship with our environment, and the consequences of incomplete and inadequate local Official Plans. I am pleased to see Oakville's elected officials taking the initiative to get Oakville's Official Plan on track and start a dialogue about building a greener Oakville and a `sustainable Halton'. As an MPP I know good legislation often comes from significant consultation with experts, local officials, and citizens. I think such work has produced forward-looking legislation like the Places to Grow strategy and the Greenbelt Act. Without a doubt we need to ensure the funding is there to build essential infrastructure and ensure quality local services as we grow and evolve. I will be the first to tell you that. Recently, concerns have been expressed to my constituency office about the adequacy of parking at the GO train stations. My office has made it clear to GO Transit, Hydro One, and the Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) this situation has gone on for far too long and needs to be rectified. As a result a potential solution is being explored. This spring our government will release a report on provincial municipal funding arrangements, which has taken a long hard look at how we can improve funding arrangements between levels of government. After years of cuts and neglect, Ontarians are now seeing the investments and approach we so desperately need. Combined with an internationally award-winning plan to manage growth and plan for the future, we can ensure that those all too important `to do's' get done. IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. A Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora EraBanner, 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 Sacrificing sun, sand, surf for lizards, leopards and lions e are both proud and petrified. Our son is on safari. In Africa. Now, this is not an activity that anyone in possession of my timid genes is expected to do. For the most part, Junipers are more antsy than adventurous: we're fun-loving, for sure, but we tend to like our fun fairly close to home, and when we do travel it's typically to commune with sun, sand and surf, not lizards, leopards and lions. But the deal with kids is that they grow up, become independent, dream wild dreams, and get ideas all of their own. Months ago, Matthew, our eldest at 21, came to us with this idea he'd had. My wife's sister and her family live in Tanzania (running international schools in the towns of Moshi and Arusha), and Matt and his friend Ashlley thought it would be an incredible experience to pay them a visit and tour Tanzania. Frankly, we couldn't argue. Sure we had concerns ­ Africa is quite a trek for two relatively inexperienced travelers to embark upon ­ and yet, with family at the other end of the journey, it added up to an ideal opportunity for the trip of a lifetime. Trip planning began in earnest and culminated on Boxing Day when we found ourselves at a relatively empty Toronto W International Airport saying goodbye, and we'll see you in 17 days, to our firstborn and his friend as they began what amounted to a milk-run to Africa: Toronto to Montreal to Zurich to Nairobi, where they had to overnight at the airport before boarding a bus for a seven-hour ride across the Kenyan boarder, into Tanzania, and on to Moshi. Andy Juniper When our kids were little we used to sit with them and try to locate a certain cartoon character in picture-books called Where's Waldo? Since Boxing Day, we've been playing Where's Matthew? We chart his daily progress, we add eight hours to our current time to account for the time changes, and we live his adventure vicariously -- via our own imaginings of what his travels must be like -- and through informative emails. As with all vacations, there have been ups and downs. Fittingly enough, the first so-called "up" occurred in the air. Matt has a history of airsickness. Alas, he made it all the way to the other side of the world without getting sick. In part this can be attributed to all their flights being on time and smooth; and, in part to his mother and her accumulated wealth ­ of points! Having saved for years, she was able to secure business-class seats where they were treated like royalty. On the down side, they arrived in Nairobi airport, happy to be out of the sky and back on terra firma. They located their on-site sleeping quarters and then Matthew ventured out of the terminal and into the Kenyan night to find the kiosk for the shuttle they would be taking in the morning. He found it, but when he went to go back into the airport, he was stopped by security guards who said no one gets into the airport after dark ­ oh, and who apparently knew nothing about any such sleeping quarters inside their own airport. Fortunately, after some anxious moments, he finally found a compassionate guard who let him slip back in. As I write, our son, world traveler, has been gone eight days. Today he saw members of the ancient Maasaii tribe sacrificing a goat. Did I mention that we're proud, and petrified? Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.