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w w w .i n si d eH A LT O N .c o m O A K V IL LE B EA V ER Th ur sd ay , S ep te m be r 22 , 2 01 1 6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver 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. United Way of Oakville Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America NEIL OLIVER Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief 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 ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER RECYCLING: Scott MacPherson loads a computer at the Upper Oakville Shopping Centre. The mall and Greentec co-hosted an event last weekend in the malls parking lot inviting the public and businesses to dispose of unwanted electronics for free. Guest Column In Canada, food is something that we all love to talkabout, almost as much as we like to chat about theweather. Over the past few years, a small group of dedicated citi- zens in Halton has come together with a shared vision, aimed at working with community partners and govern- ment to ensure our food system is sustainable and able to meet the needs of residents. The newly-formed Halton Food Council would like to hear your thoughts about its draft Charter. The goal of the Charter is to increase awareness of food system issues and opportunities in Halton Region and communicate with a common voice to promote action. You can review a copy of the Charter on the Councils website, www.halton- foodcouncil.ca. The Council is inviting comments on its charter until Oct. 14. Please email your comments to haltonfoodcouncil@gmail.com. The Halton Food Council envisions a Halton where: all residents have access to adequate, affordable, safe, nutritious and culturally acceptable food there is a fair and sustainable food system, for example, local foods are available and promoted, local agricultural lands and farmers are protected and supported, urban agriculture is encouraged, and food has been produced and distributed in an environmentally acceptable way food is an important part of our heritage and culture The Councils history begins several years ago. In 2007 and 2008, Halton Region Health Department staff collected information, surveyed food policy councils in other jurisdictions, and consulted with representatives from the Halton community to determine the level of interest in establishing a food council in Halton. With the support of the Regions Health Department, in June 2008, a com- munity committee began to meet regularly. The committee developed a vision and hosted a Halton Food Forum on April 8, 2009, attended by over 130 participants. The Halton Food Council held its first official meeting on Nov. 19, 2009. Today the Council aims to encourage and facilitate dialogue and collabora- tion among food related organizations, agencies, services, food producers and distributors, consumers, business and government. Its wonderful to see groups such as the Halton Food Council working together to promote access to healthy foods and a sustainable food system in Halton, and helping to make Halton a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. Halton Food Council seeks input The Oakville Beaver is a division of Ihave a confession. I know this will come as a huge shock to most of you. I can only hope youre sitting down, and are suitably medicated. Dear Readers: I am not perfect. I know, I know. Who wudda thunk? I know I sure didnt. Not until I recently read David Gilmours new novel, The Perfect Order of Things which The Globe & Mail calls a masterpiece of irony, subversive humour and astonishing self-mockery, and in which the narrator spends considerable time contemplating both his imperfections and assorted things that thwarted him in life. Naturally, the narrators navel-gazing got me thinking about, well, me. For the record, Gilmours narrator was thwarted by things like skating to the left, drawing a tree, juggling, tuning a guitar, patch- ing a bicycle tire and, significantly, being unable to replicate Ringos drum roll in the Beatles I Want to Hold Your Hand. Cued by this list, I shone a light upon assorted things that have thwarted me in life. Like Gilmours narrator, I have difficulties skating, although my problems occur when turning right. While skating left has always been as natural as breathing, skating right using the proper crossover method, I might add is awkward, unnatural and, ah, impossible. As a Canadian, this is humili- ating to admit. For a guy who came within one point of capturing a house- league scoring title (playing on a team embarrassingly sponsored by, and thusly named, Beauty Supply) this is absurd. On the ice I relied on my speed, inherent guile, and a prayer that the puck would never go to my right. Likewise absurd: I sometimes swim lengths for fitness. And yet, I dont know how to swim. Sure, I can somehow stay afloat. And I can locomote up and down the pool with a stroke that vaguely resembles the breaststroke, but I cant do the crawl and have never been able to master that mid-stroke breath swimmers use to keep oxygenated. Heres another irony. I cant sing. Even though in my youth, I was a lead singer. I suppose I got by on attitude, and the fact that my band tended to bulldoze right on over most vocals. Actually, I can take this one step farther: few (non-professional musician) people in this world are into music as obsessively as me. And yet, I cant play anything, having miserably failed at one point or anoth- er to learn assorted instruments. Oh, and how about this juicy fact: Im a writer and yet I cant spell worth beens. Er, beans. Seriously, I ward off the wrath of edi- tors via spell check and ceaseless vigilance that is, looking up each word that might look even the tiniest bit wonky. Then theres my inherent ineptitude at all forms of art. At handyman endeavors. At Finally, word of my introspection exercise reached my children who generously chimed in with their own rather shockingly long lists of my blemishes. Atop their lists? I text with one finger. I hold my phone in one hand and I pluck away with the index finger on my other hand. I am a one-finger plucker, the modern-day equivalent of the old newsmen who would peck out dispatches on their trusty typewriters using only their two index fingers. Dear Readers: I hope I havent shocked you. Im not perfect. Like me, youre just going to have to get over this (perfectly under- standable) notion. Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook http://www.facebook.com, or followed at www.twit- ter.com/thesportjesters. Imagine a Canadian who (gasp) cannot skate to the right Gary Carr, Halton Region Chair Gary Carr