The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, September 24, 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 NEIL OLIVER Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional 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 Guest Columnist Building the future Terence Young, Oakville MP n the last two weeks Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with U.S. President Obama in Washington, 19 other world leaders at the G20 in Pittsburgh, and welcomed back Tim Hortons Head office to Canada, right here in Oakville. It was the Prime Minister's seventh meeting with President Terence Young Obama and reflects the importance of nurturing trade with our largest trading partner, and of addressing specific issues -- like NHL hockey team flights being allowed to travel between U.S. cities and the latest irritant, Buy American. Both our countries benefit tremendously and irritants will be resolved, but it reminds us of our decades-long dependence on U.S. trade, a problem we are acting to reduce. Canada's future will be based on trade. We have always produced more than we can consume -- and increasingly in high-tech manufactured goods, like RIM's Blackberry. So we are pursuing free trade in new markets worldwide, and just passed free trade bills with Peru, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and have begun a deal with Colombia. We are moving towards negotiations with the European Union, an economy worth over $1 trillion. The potential benefits are huge. Not just open access to new markets, but Canada will become a more independent nation, less dependent on the U.S. Canada was also built on dynamic government action when people are in need. The Liberals are criticizing the $55.9B deficit created in part by our Economic Action Plan. This deficit was necessary to fight the world-wide recession, and will fund targeted, temporary and timely action to create jobs. More than $54 million of that deficit is invested to create jobs and new infrastructure right here in Oakville. Taxpayers in Oakville pay huge amounts in taxes to Ottawa and deserve a fair share back into their community. Since the G20 nations all have large deficits, the real question is: how does ours compare to the size of our economy (GDP)? Canada's is the smallest of the G20 -- less than half the U.S. deficit. This government knows the deficit can be tamed with economic growth and no tax increases because the money has been borrowed at 1 per cent or less. I sat in parliament last fall when the coalition parties criticized us daily for not spending more. Now they say spending was too high. The Liberals voted for our budget in January, proposing no amendments, yet last week they voted against key parts of it, including the popular Home Renovation Tax Credit, attempting to force an election nobody wants. The last thing we need in this recession is an election. Luckily the NDP and Bloc supported these important measures, saving you $300 million in a wasteful election. The Liberals promise to try again in October. For whose benefit? Prime Minister Harper is focused on building an economy for our future. This week he went on the world stage at the G20 to promote how Canada is strongly positioned for recovery -- a great place to invest, with competitive business taxes. But not before joining me on Wednesday at Tim Hortons head office in Oakville to recognize that Canada's iconic business was coming home, for that very reason. RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America I THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION DANIEL HO / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER CYCLING FOR SUPPORT: Adam Smele (centre) is flanked by his friends Sean Robertson (left) and Ken Robertson (right) as they approach the finish line at the ninth annual Cycle for Autism at Bronte Creek Provincial Park Saturday.There were also lots of activities and participation from local emergency services. All proceeds support programs and support services to local families raising children with autism spectrum disorders. When the eyes have it, women prove to be tougher than men T his is a completely non-sexist account of how men are way braver and tougher and better able to handle pain than women. It's also the tale of how I nearly became Florence Nightingale for a weekend. And how my wife got her eyeballs seared. On purpose. For as long as I can remember, my wife has abhorred her imperfect eyesight and loathed all obvious options to correct that imperfect eyesight. She hated contact lenses because they were uncomfortable and made her eyes tired and irritated. And she hated glasses because they were cumbersome and forever being misplaced. Ah, the conundrum faced by every glasses-wearing person: how can I find my misplaced specs when I don't have my glasses to assist in the locating of the AWOL eyewear? But I digress. The point is my wife was fed up with her imperfect eyesight and corrective eyewear options. Then her business partner underwent laser eye surgery and -- zap -- she came out of it with perfect vision, like she had brand new eyeballs. Granted, there was some pain and discomfort involved, and my wife is not a big fan of pain and discomfort. So she waffled. Then booked an appointment. Then waffled some more before agreeing to take the plunge. Was she courageous and confident going into the surgery? Her final Tweet, pre-procedure led me to believe she was nervous, really nervous. Yikes. And so I was enlisted to be my wife's chauffeur, her rock of support, and her nurse (the first few days were expected to be tough and she'd need help). I knew the driving part would be easy, but the Andy Juniper rock/nurse parts could prove problematic since I'm a tad squeamish, to say the least. Did I mention how men are way braver and tougher and better able to handle pain than women? Which brings me to the procedure, done in two parts in a glassed-in room replete with large monitors so curious onlookers can watch the whole process, if they're man enough. As we sat in the recovery room after the first part of the procedure, as my wife calmly spoke of how they'd cut a flap in each of her eyeballs and... Okay, I didn't hear what she said after that because I was working too hard at trying not to faint. What, with the description of the process, and the sights on the large moni- tors, oh, and girlish whimpers coming from the guy sitting beside my wife. Apparently this young man had also undergone the initial part of the procedure -- just like my wife and another woman in the room, who was also calmly awaiting the second part. Alas, unlike the women, the guy was taking the whole process like a man. Which is to say that on top of whimpering, he was whining and fretting and hyper-ventilating and generally freaking out. It was all he could do to refrain from crawling into the fetal position, sucking his thumb, and calling for his mommy. I would have laughed at his display of wussiness, only I was sweating and the room was spinning and I was seeing spots. Suffice to say, I survived the whole ordeal. Oh, and so did my wife who had remarkably little pain and discomfort -- and thus required remarkably little nursing (thank heavens) -- and who now possesses perfect vision. For her, it's a whole new world out there. For me, it's hell. I mean, I know she can see me clearly now; I've spent the last three days sucking in my gut. Andy Juniper can be visited at his website, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com.