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

www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, March 18, 2010 · 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 Region bans smoking near public buildings Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr Second-hand smoke has more than 4,000 chemicals and at least 50 of those are known to cause cancer. Each year, 1,000 Canadians die due to exposure to second-hand smoke. Gary Carr Leukemia, lymphoma, heart disease and lung cancer are all related to second-hand smoke and cause a great toll not only on the person, but their families as well as our health care system. This is part of the reason why protecting the health of Halton residents has always been a top priority and bylaw No 24-09 is another example of that commitment. Bylaw No 24-09 is a region-wide bylaw which currently bans smoking from within nine metres of any entrance or exit of all buildings owned or leased by the Regional Municipality of Halton or its local municipalities. Municipally-owned or leased buildings include: municipal offices, community centres, libraries, indoor swimming pools, arenas, museums, art galleries, public washrooms, recreational centres, police stations, fire halls, and ambulance stations. From now until May 15, 2010, a phased-in enforcement approach will be used by enforcement staff. This will involve educating violators and promoting awareness of the bylaw. Following the initial three-month period, those who break the bylaw could be issued a Provincial Offence Summons to appear in court. For more information about tobacco, dial 311 or call Halton Region at 905-8256000, toll free 1-866-442-5866, or TTY 905-827-9833 or visit our webpage at www.halton.ca. 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 The Oakville Beaver is a division of WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Suburban Newspapers of America Media Group Ltd. RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville ATHENA Award Letter to the editor Residents can't have cake and eat it too Re: Comments about Ford off target, Oakville Beaver, March 10 This is one instance when you can't "have your cake and eat it too". Oakville needs the industries, Ford in particular, to keep us a viable community. Ann Mulvale is right on the mark with her letter. When you're stuck in traffic to and from Toronto, I'm pretty sure that contributes greatly to "our" pollution, as well as what blows in from other areas. In other words, Oakville Town Council does not have control of pollution for all of the GTA. And we all like the convenience of having hydro available at all times. CATHY MOSS, OAKVILLE RESIDENT FOR 30 YEARS NIKKI WESLEY/OAKVILLE BEAVER NEW ADDITION: Daniel Thurner, 15, holds up a stamp he will be adding to his collection during the Oakville stamp Club's annual stamp Show at St. Paul's United Church on Saturday afternoon. Thurner has been an avid stamp collector since he was eight years old. Cold facts about a dog that wants to heat the neighbourhood e've been broken into about 100 times. And with each home-invasion ­ as the mudroom door crashes open, as icy air gushes in and the intruders enter ­ my mind freezes and my heart jumps into my throat. Which is where it remains until I hear the click-click-click across the floor and become conscious of what's just happened. Yes, we've been broken into. But not by burglars. But, rather, by our dogs, one of which ­ Ellie, the youngest, and considerably the smartest ­ has determined how to open the door and let in herself and her partner in canine crime, our older dog, Zoey (who could not figure out how to break into the house even if you left the door open and a warm meal on the floor of the foyer). Trouble is, while Ellie knows how to open the door, she doesn't possess the common sense, or civility, to close it. Remember that saying your parents used that drove you nuts? You know, the old "we're not paying to heat the neighborhood." Well, it's what we say to Ellie on a regular basis. But we honestly don't think she cares: hey, she's inside the warm house and, to her, that's all that matters. Ellie is a baby boxer, not yet one-year-old. She came to us in W a roundabout way. Our eldest, looking to gain a little financial footing after finishing university and starting work, moved back home. One night late last summer he came in with a little surprise he and his girlfriend had picked up. They called the surprise `Ellie'. Admittedly, we needed another dog like we needed higher taxes. Andy Juniper Nonetheless, we grew very attached to Ellie, very quickly. Attached to her looks, which have been teasingly compared to a gremlin and a fig: long legs and white rabbit's-foot paws, a small, dark peanut-head, and the typical boxer underbite, seriously in need of an orthodontic overhaul. We're also attached to her personality, attitude and intelligence, something (as owners of hounds) we've never before seen in a dog (no offence intended to hounds everywhere). Still a pup, Ellie is full of beans (yeah, the gal's gassy) and mischief. When she's not obsessively playing with a green squeaky ball, she's compulsively chasing her stub of a tail in a circle. That's Ellie: obsessive, compulsive. Her other hobbies include pushing a deflated basketball around the snowy acreage, and sneaking up behind Zoey, and jumping on his head. Despite the abuse he suffers at her hands (paws?), Zoey is quite enamored with his young friend. Since Old Franny passed on to the great dog-run in the sky, Zoey had been alone, at times bored, and too-often idle. His weight was becoming an issue. Now, with Ellie on his tail, he's a slim-trim version of his former self. Now he's a regular, buff dude. Not surprisingly, living in a house full of people with way too much time on their hands, Ellie has ended up with a dozen different nicknames, everything from Drooly to Ellouise to Wheeze (like most boxers, she wheezes) to Weezer to Lil Ellie Underbite (that's her rap name, should she ever put out a CD). As I write this, the dynamic duo is up on the couch in my office, practically on top of each other, sawing logs. They like each other's body heat. In this instance, they need it. You see, the mudroom door got left open for 20 minutes after a recent breakin. Ellie's insisting we heat the neighborhood. Andy Juniper can be visited at www.strangledeggs.com, contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, or followed at www.twitter.com/thesportjesters.