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

Exquisite selection of Herend Porcelain, Dresden, Meissen, Royal Doulton, antique dolls, Sterling, accent furniture and gifts for all occasions 1801 Lakeshore Rd. W. Unit 8, Mississauga ON ? ? x ? n ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? U nadia@nadiasantiques.com After 20 years in Toronto, Nadias Antiques has moved to Mississauga Business Hours: ? 7 i ` ? i ? ` > ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ` > ? ? ? ? > ? ? ? ? { ? ? ? U ? - > ? ? ? ` > ? ? ? ? > ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Looking to enhance your quality of life with personal support services? Call us today to inquire about our quality private in-home care and personal support services For more information contact: Phone: 905-827-8800 Toll Free: 1800-387-7127 Home Support: Laundry s , I G H T ( O U S E K E E P I N G s - E A L P L A N N I N G s P R E P A R A T I O N Personal Care: Bathing s 3 K I N # A R E s $ R E S S I N G s ' R O O M I N G s & E E D I N G s % X E R C I S E s - E D I C A T I O N s S U P E R V I S I O N 3 U P E R V I S I O N s www.acclaimhealth.ca 19 W ednesday , D ecem ber 1, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF What better teaching assistant could one ask for when giving a lesson on government to a group of fifth graders? Perhaps, there is none better than Ontarios Minister of Finance Dwight Duncan. Duncan visited the Grade 5 students at Oakvilles John Knox Christian School on Thursday, Nov. 25, where the students had just completed a study unit on governance. He was there to give them a lesson that books simply cannot match. Both of the schools Grade 5 classes shuffled into one classroom and eagerly listened and participated in Duncans presentation and then sought out his autograph. He told the students how the Province is spending $110 billion this year of taxpayer money. The children were wowed by the large sum. Thats a lot of money, he said. Where do we get it from? The children knew that money comes from taxpayers. When Duncan asked if the children in the room pay taxes, the majority replied no, understanding it was paid by their parents. No? You ever been to the mall? he asked them. You ever go to HMV and ever buy a disc? Do you pay taxes? Oh yes you did. You paid taxes on that. If you didnt . . . he said with a jokingly stern face. You guys pay taxes. Anytime you buy some- thing, whether its a disc, a new backpack, even when you download on iTunes, you pay sales tax there folks. So youre taxpayers already and you didnt even know it, he said. He also demonstrated to the children how government works through debate and vote. He told them the Province spends $14 billion on education and $48 billion on health care. He then asked the children to put up their hands if they believe the government spends too much on each item or not enough on each. The room was split evenly for both sides. All of you were saying the right things and what that is showing you is that there are dif- ferences of opinion on how to do things, he said. He told the students this creates what is known as a debate. Duncan came into the classroom with Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn and both also spoke about their experiences in the Legislative Assembly at Queens Park in Toronto. Its a big chamber, its three and a half storeys high so the sound really echoes in there, Flynn told the children of his experi- ence when he was first elected. And all you see is a bunch of adults that are acting like theyre in about Grade 2. Then youre thinking I cant do this, this is crazy, I cant stay here and then two weeks later you find yourself doing the exact same thing. Youre yelling at everybody, too. However, he said there are a lot of good things that happen in the room. Duncan also gave the children a bit of a his- tory lesson in government assemblies. The opposition and the government sit apart from each other, dont they? he asked. Do you know how far apart they sit? Two sword lengths. Do you know why? In the old days they brought swords in. The children wooed. He also said in the very early days of Parliament in Britain, the Crown would not provide any funding for Parliament to have a building, so it took place outdoors in a field. That is why today the carpeting in the cham- ber is always green. He also told them why the Queen is the only person not allowed to go inside the cham- ber. In the real old days the king used to try to kill the people in the House of Commons, he said. The children got to ask questions of both elected officials and learned what their favourite parts of the job are, and what their days are like and how they got involved in pol- itics in the first place. Duncan said he was in Grade 8 when his idol, the late and at-the-time prime minister Pierre Trudeau, visited his hometown of Windsor. He said he skipped school that day, which caused the children to get riled up. Duncan said he went to see Trudeau and moved to the front of the line where the Prime Minister would be walking, with a piece of paper to get an autograph, but because he was too small Trudeau did not see him. A man there told Duncan to write down on a piece of paper his name and address and he would get the autograph for him. The next day he received an invitation from the Liberal Party to help with some volunteer work. And since then Duncan said hes been involved in poli- tics. I never got my autograph, he added. After the presentation, one of the students Jacob Schuurman said he enjoyed the visit from the minister. I learned that he does a lot for the Province and that he works really hard and I really like what he does for our province, he said. Duncans visit was only a few days after fed- eral Finance Minister Jim Flaherty gave a keynote address at an Oakville Chamber of Commerce event. Finance Minister passes fifth grade teaching lesson MICHELLE SIU / OAKVILLE BEAVER NEXT QUESTION: Finance Minister Dwight Duncan fields questions from Grade 5 students at John Knox Christian School.