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OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, October 8, 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 Asking the questions Kevin Flynn, Oakville MPP s fall arrives, construction season in Oakville is beginning to wrap up. This has been a good year for significant investment in Oakville's infrastructure. Commuters on Bronte Road have recently had an easier drive as the Ministry of Transportation opened the improveKevin Flynn ments to the Bronte/Queen Elizabeth Way on ramp. The new underpass and ramps will make the commute easier and the drive home faster. The Bronte Road work is just one example of the investment the Ontario government has made in Oakville. Recently, our community heard the Ontario government is putting the new Oakville hospital on an accelerated schedule -- issuing a Request for Qualifications this fall. More than $30-million has been delivered to Oakville to fund improvements and renovations to wastewater treatment plants, sports fields and arenas. Another $27-million was delivered to Halton as we continue to prepare for growth by making key investments. Along with the improvements on Bronte Road, the provincial government has made significant investments recently in our transit system to help our community move. We have invested more than $500,000 for Oakville through the Ontario Bus Replacement Program and we have increased Oakville's share in gas tax revenues to $2.3-million this year for Oakville Transit to assist with their transition to an improved grid system. We are also working on much-needed improvements to GO Transit. We are building 1,000 new parking spaces at the two Oakville stations and a third rail between Kerr Street and the Port Credit station to improve the Lakeshore West line. The Ontario government has also asked Metrolinx, the provincial agency that looks after GO Transit, to start preparations that will lead to the electrification of the GO Transit lines. This initiative will remove the diesel locomotives currently in use and will be a significant step forward in cleaning up Oakville's air. While those announcements will clearly benefit the people of Oakville, last week's decision by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) to locate a power generating facility on Ford's property in Oakville, was met with my disappointment. I share the same concerns as members of my community who question how the OPA decided to locate a power plant close to a residential neighbourhood in a stressed airshed. I believe we need transparency on how the OPA came to this decision and I believe Ford of Canada with such a long and constructive history within our town and province owes our community an explanation as to why it would agree to have Ford's lands used for power plant purposes. In the coming days and weeks, I will continue to work with and support the efforts of the community, Mayor Rob Burton and Town Council, who have vigorously protested such a facility over the past few months, and assist in the development of the most successful course for Oakville. A 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 NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER SHAAREI-BETH EL SHARES: Oakwood Public School students Ashlyn Bailey, Hashini Pallewatta, Cole Burton, Katelyn Lalande, and Temea Madugalla accept a gift from Rabbi Stephen Wise on behalf of their school's Halton Food For Thought Breakfast Program. The rabbi was delivering his Shaarei-Beth El Congregation's donation of apples and honey to the program. Following Ferris and the secret to a happy Thanksgiving I believe it was that esteemed and erudite philosopher Ferris Bueller who once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it." And yet we persist in not stopping, in not looking around, and in missing life -- to the point where we will forever sadly (some would say, pathetically) be known as Generation Crazy Busy, to the point where our tombstones will invariably read: Here Lies (Insert Name). He/She Never Stopped To Smell The Roses. But Took Time To Complain About The Thorns. You know, loving life and truly living life is all about perspective. The week before I marked my last birthday, I was in a bit of a funk about growing old (the rings under my eyes are beginning to add up to an age that is mathematically challenging, not to mention depressing). It's not that I desire to go all Ponce de Leon, find the fountain of youth and stay young forever. It's just that I'd prefer not getting quite so old quite so fast. Around the time of my festering funk, I was walking down Bloor Street in Toronto when I literally ran into an old family friend I hadn't seen in ages. She gave me the bear hug of all bear hugs and we marvelled at the odds of our meeting -- 2.5-million people in The Big Smoke and we crash into each other. We quickly got caught up and then, in advance of the occasion, she wished me a happy birthday. For the rest of the day I could not get my friend off my mind: four years ago she lost her husband to an Andy Juniper untimely, massive heart attack. I couldn't help but think of how he (a kind, caring, life-loving man) would have loved to have had the chance to grow old, to be with his wife and to watch his kids mature into adulthood. Perspective. I once read an interview with a breast cancer survivor who was turning 50. She said that while her friends were freaking out over reaching The Big 5-0, she didn't find the milestone to be a millstone. She was nothing but thankful for the privilege of reaching that mark. Thankful for the opportunity to grow old. The aforementioned esteemed and erudite philosopher, Mr. Ferris Bueller, having noted the speed at which life moves, did something to slow life down. He took a day off school (perhaps you've seen the documentary of this event, Ferris Bueller's Day Off), corralled his girlfriend and his best friend, borrowed the friend's father's Ferrari, and sped off into Chicago to see the sights and smell the roses. Among other things, they went to a Chicago Cubs baseball game, saw priceless works of art in a museum, dined in a fancy restaurant and ate...pancreas. Real life doesn't always imitate art. You don't have to skip school or work -- for that matter you don't have to dine on pancreas -- to have an awesome day. You just need to take a big breath to be truly mindful, and thankful for all you have. Perspective. The other night I was driving my daughter to dance. Living in the country, I spend half my life driving and I usually look at it as a chore. But as we listened to music and got caught up on each other's lives, I felt thankful for that time -- time to bond with my incredible daughter, precious time to share our interests, our experiences and our lives. Andy Juniper can be visited at his website, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com.