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OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, May 28, 2009 · 6 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 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 Vice-president and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY General Manager 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 MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Aiming for zero Gary Carr, Halton Region Chair RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America O Gary Carr n May 13, Halton Regional Council approved the Budget Directions Report for the Region's 2010 Budget and Business Plan. This report came as a result of a motion that I had introduced in April and resulted in the approved directions call for a zero per cent Regional tax and rate freeze THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER GOING UP: Green Pole Solutions Angela Michieli demonstrates the clothesline elevator during the Oakville Conserves Energy Fair held at Town Hall on Saturday. The fair featured exhibits by Oakville-based companies that produce energy-conserving products or green power as well as Halton Environmental Network workshops on how to integrate solar panels into a home energy system. The fair was part of the Town's celebration of Energy Conservation Week. in 2010. With recovery from the current recession not anticipated until late 2010, the tax and rate freeze is Council's response to the existing economic conditions and the significant financial pressures being felt by many of Halton's residents and businesses. We recognize Halton's residents are facing some real financial challenges and do not need the added burden of a tax increase. The strategies outlined in the Budget Directions Report to achieve the zero per cent tax increase are consistent with the Region's strong and prudent financial planning principles and will ensure Halton's residents continue to receive high quality services and programs they expect. The Budget Directions Report outlines some of the cost-saving strategies the Region could employ to implement the tax freeze, including freezing Regional staff complement at 2008 levels, the temporary financing of some programs, including the increased demand for social services, through the Region's Recession and Stabilization Reserves, and other cost containment measures. Over the past three years, Halton Region has been able to keep taxes low with a combined tax increase of less than one per cent while still enhancing programs and services including: · Enhanced waste diversion programs such as weekly Blue Box and Green Cart Collections, and Take It Back! Halton · Introduction of Halton's Air Quality program in 2008 · Landfill Gas Capture Project which reduces greenhouse gas emissions · Implementation of 211 and 311 · $2 million for additional subsidized child care spaces · Addition of 15.6 paramedics to Halton EMS since 2007 An increase in the amount invested in Halton's roads program from an approved budget of $53 million in 2004 to a budget of $115 million in 2009 Based on this record, I am confident the 2010 Regional Budget will provide this community with the services and programs it expects, while providing residents with the financial relief they need. To view the 2010 Budget Directions Report visit www.halton.ca and search in Council/Committee Documents. About the Twit-wits and mulch ado about (next to) nothing I t's been a week of abundant insight, self-discovery and altogether unsolicited advice. In seven short days, I have learned a lot about the likes of mulch and midges. Oh, I also learned that I'm a very, very, very bad dad, and that I am a relic. Allow me to begin relating my revelations in the late Triassic Period -- fitting since an associate of mine took time out of his busy schedule to examine my existence, calculate my place in the universe and thoughtfully advise me that I'm a dinosaur. "You should be on Facebook and Twitter," he said. "You should get with this century." For those lucky souls not in the know: Facebook is basically an online version of the phony, phobic social nightmare that was high school, while Twitter is a moronic, micro-blogging site that allows Twit-wits to post in 140 characters or less their most profound, inner-most thoughts and, ah, movements -- ie: I'm in the bathroom, I'm going to the bathroom, I'm done. And why, I naturally wondered, should I be on Facebook and Twitter? "So you can boost your profile and your reading audience can get to know you better and keep up with what your doing. You could tweet every week to let them know your column is online." Hey, from reading this column, my readers already know my every idle thought (seriously: do they need to know more?). And my readers are smart. They know when my column's up -- they've been finding it in one form or another for the past 23 years. I know, I know: I'm a dinosaur. But at least I'm not a very, very, very bad dad. Oh wait, I am. Last week my Andy Juniper daughter came home from school, suffering the apparent anguish of a particularly acute Lunch Bag Letdown, and let me have it. You know, I've been making lunches for this lass for years and apparently they've all been sub-standard, at least by the lofty standards set by the parents of her friends. With last week came the last straw. In retrospect there may have been one too many successive days of jam sandwiches -- naively, I didn't think you could go wrong with jam -- but I thought her indictment ("You are a very, very, very bad dad.") was a tad harsh. Speaking of harsh. Last week I surrendered a small fortune to buy mulch for our gardens. Considering what I'd spent, I fully expected to be in receipt of a mountain of mulch. Instead, I got a molehill. Talk about mulch ado about (next to) nothing. Upon further (indignant) investigation, I was told that the reason I'd received so little mulch for so much money was that I'd purchased the "Cadillac of mulch," a certain B.C. Cedar. Bet you didn't know there was a Cadillac of mulch, did you? Bet you erroneously thought like I thought that, well, mulch is mulch. Anyway, whilst outdoors distributing the troublingly tiny amount of mulch, I was swarmed by midges. Now readers, I don't need Facebook or Twitter to tell me that you're wondering: what in tarnation are midges? Midges are tiny, two-winged flies that travel (and mate -- yuck) in swarms and that are the scourge of cyclists, gardeners, golfers, tennis players and anyone else wishing to spend time outdoors and not inadvertently eat bugs. This year these non-biting midges are inundating our environment and, alas, I'm on a diet of about a dozen a day. Ah, a nice light snack. For a dinosaur. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com.