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

A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday June 6, 2001 T he Oakville B eaver Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crozier Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager M ark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertotli DirectorofPhotography Mstroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd.. indudes: Ajax/Pickering N e w s Advertiser. Alliston Herald/Courier. Arthur Enterprise N e w s. Barrie Advance. Barry's Bay This Week, Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardian. B u rlin g to n P o s t. B u rlin g to n S h o p p in g N e w s , C it y P a re n t. CdCngwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country R o u te s . E to b ic o k e G u a r d ia n , F la m b o ro u g h P o st, G e o rg e to w n Independent/Acton Free Press. Harriston Review, Huronia Business Tim es, Kingston Th is W eek. Lindsay Th is W eek. M a rk ha m E cno m ist & S un , M idland/P enetanguishine Mirror. Milton C a n a d ia n C h a m p io n . Milton Shopping News. Mississauga Business Tim es, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide. Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News. North York Mirror. Oakville Beaver. Oakville Shopping News. Otatimers Hockey News. Orillia Today. Oshawa/VVhrtby/Clanngton Port Perry This Week. O w e n Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer. Peterborough This W eek. Picton C ounty G u id e . R ic h m o n d Hill/Thomhill/Vaughan Liberal, S c a rb o ro u g h Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbndge Tribune. Forever M x n g . City of "fork Guardian Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member cca a THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: O T -M H m RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community New spapers Association Prtfvrwg for Tomorrow's Health Cart ^' Tstolfgei fo T f l h'Jn Jinge BeJI Fund ^ S O T rfO TV A u CT1QN UnitedWay JTlw ard (-In © (9aki> itJe <& 4ti>a$s FOR BUSINESS EXCELLENCE 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ortt L6K3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax; 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 C>INA J Canadian Community Newspapers Association *« E IRONTI 8UTTERFLY | oakville galleries | OPINION S K i Suburban Newspapers ot America H O a C jju C hildren's C hoir mm T h e O a k v il le . M ilto n a n d D is tr ic t REAL ESTATE BOARD Editorials Farewell to a hero The word hero is used pretty loosely these days. Most often it's in conjunction with professional athletes making mega-bucks and sometimes finding themselves in trouble with police. Brigadier-General Denis Whitaker, who died Brigadier-General Denis last week, would have recoiled at being called a Whitaker' s death marks the\ hero. But the word aptly described the soldier, end o f another chapter in businessman, author and concerned citizen. His exploits at the human meat grinder that the history o f World War ll\ was the Dieppe raid in World War II, are the and an era where words things of legend. There's no denying he was one like loyalty were revered. of this nation's most highly decorated comman ders in the war. But it was of little consolation to ________________________ the man who saw too many of his soldiers and fellow officers die in the conflict. He was the only one of 100 officers, for exam ple, to make it off the beaches of Dieppe and into the town without sustaining a wound. His life was the ultimate success story. He was an avid sportsman, having played football for the old Hamilton Tigers and leading the Canadian Equestrian Team to two Olympic medals along with Pan American and World Championships. And aside from all that, he was also a national senior squash champion. Not only was Denis Whitaker an officer and gentleman of the old school, he was also a captain of business, rising to the CEO's office at O 'Keefe Brewery. In his later years, along with his wife Shelagh, he became a well-respective author of books detailing the military campaigns of World War II, detailing the strategies and fighting that took place. The books are captivating reading for those who want the unvarnished truth about the hell that is war. In an age of specialization and self-interest, Denis W hitaker was truly a Renaissance man. There are too few cast in his image. He will be missed. NEWS ITEM: Softer-image Sheila Copps eyes Liberal leadership. Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Truck route issue example of distasteful politics It is George Bernard Shaw who said "I don't like circumstances. People are always blaming circum stances for what they are and for the decisio n s they m ake. And when they can't find the circum stance they want, they go out and make their own. Just as long as it fits." Letter of the Week D iffe ren t persp ective on su p plyin g b u tterfly lands In 1999 the Bronte Butterfly Project was started. The plan is to attract butterflies and provide a park for everyone to enjoy. A very worthwhile project on a tiny-spot at Bronte Harbour in need of about $2 m illion to com plete. L arge fundraising efforts are being made and m any sp o n so rs have been found. One of those sponsors appears to be Metrus Developments Inc. The same company which owns most of the land at Shell Park a few k ilo m etres from B ronte Harbour and is currently destroy ing m any acres o f m eadow to make room for development. The very same acres the butterflies used to come to. So we allow the destruction of a large area of natural habitat for these creatures and then proceed to create a new postage-stamp-size spot som ew here else at great expense and pat ourselves on the back for the wonderful job we are doing. Do not blam e the B utterfly Project organizers. It is a very good p ro ject. Do not blam e M etrus D evelopm ents. Blame all of us who cannot see the importance of these things, until it is too late. "Bad things happen when good people do nothing". Let's not pretend ways cannot be found to protect valuable natur al habitats north of Dundas. Trying to undo the damage later is a lot more difficult and expensive. Hank R odenburg Seniors deserve quality of life in declining years It was with great delight to hear about the govern ment funding for additional nursing home beds in Halton. Hopefully there will be enough money left in the coffers to hire additional nurses, aides & other employees necessary to keep these wonderful seniors comfortable. We recently placed a close relative in a nursing home, and are upset to see the quality of care provided for them. It is not the fault of the nursing staff and aides- it is the lack of nursing staff and aides. They are overworked and under paid. Patients are left in bathroom cubicles far too long until someone has time to attend to their needs. These moms and dads who raised families in tough times, paid their taxes, and sometimes went without necessities for themselves to give to their children, are now suffering because of government cutbacks. It is not fair to our seniors. And' now to hear of the raises for MPs just cuts like a knife. Let's be fair and put the money where it can be used to help our seniors live a quality (not quantity) life. Everyone with a relative in these homes should contact their local MP (after all, they do work evenings and weekends) - and voice their concern. A u d re y & L a rry B a rn ett Slaves to circumstance versus proponents of reason is what the . Town C ouncil disp lay ed last evening when they approved a full truck route for Dorvai Drive. They chose to ignore the many logistical problem s w ith the 1997 Truck Study, which ultim ately recom mended this full truck route. They chose to ignore the S eparate School Board who along with resi dents has had long-standing con cerns with safety and pollution. They even chose to ignore a Town Manager who confirmed the truck route in this community was not regarded as sound planning. Tom, Council instead, chose to uphold the wishes and desires of a certain community whose repre sentatives agreed that they were indeed richer and more politically aligned to `get what they want'. What transpired was a sad and blatant show of everything that makes politics distasteful. Yet, we lament that people are just too apa thetic to get involved. In light of this `farce' as Councillor Flynn so eloquently put it; who can blame them? M a ry Paul Tax credit not in interest of better education On Saturday, May 26, 2001, vice president Linda M id d au g h a c c o m p a n ie d the c h a ir o f the H alton District School Board, Ethel Gardiner and the trustee for Milton, Erica Andrews as they approached mem bers of the community to sign a petition against the $ 3 5 0 0 tax c re d it fo r p riv a te e d u c a tio n th a t the Conservative Government has introduced in its budget. Thank you to the Halton District School Board for their motions at the board table against this tax credit. Thank you to over 500 people in both Milton at the F a rm e rs ' M a rk e t S a tu rd a y and on S u n d ay in Burlington who signed the petition. It is our belief that public education is the single most important element in the maintenance of democ ratic society. Our society has reaped the benefits of a strong public education system that ensures productive and contributing citizens. Though the premier initially said the tax credit would cost $300 million when fully implemented, he has since admitted it will cost more. According to some estim ates this could be closer to $700 million. This government has taken more than a billion dollars out of public education since it came in to pow er: causing-{he lo ss o f m any pro g ram s, teacher librarians, support for children with special needs, textbook and material shortages, labour unrest in general, low morale. If, as expected, parents con cerned about instability and underfunding continue to leave the public education system at the current rate, enrollment in private schools could increase dramati cally by 2006. As Bill 45 reads now. this $3500 tax credit will be fo r any p riv a te sc h o o l, re lig io u s o r n ot, here in O ntario, in other parts o f C anada or the rest o f the world. In addition, "the provincial government seems to be suffering from `ideological schizophrenia' by g iving m oney fo r p riv a te schools w ith no strings attached at the same time as it seeks more accountabil ity from the public school system" states the Ontario Public School Boards' Association. Many see this as a first step towards a two tiered education system. One cannot help recalling the video taped words of the fir s t M in is te r o f E d u c a tio n o f th is p re se n t Conservative governm ent. John Snobelen, "First we have to create a crisis in education before we can implement our policies" . It seems that 129,000 ele mentary and secondary school teachers knew exactly what the governm ent's intention was in the fall o f 1997, when they protested Bill 160 by staying out of the classroom for two weeks. This was the start o f the crisis being created by this government and now they are introducing their real agenda, privitizing education. Is this the kind o f Ontario, Canada, we want for our children, our grandchildren? A two-tiered education system ? Let your voice be heard, dem and the tax credit be removed from the bill. Demand that there be clear equity o f access parameters for immediate and extensive public hearings on such a m ajor shift in pub Yours sincerely, K a th y C la rk e , Hospital personnel went beyond their duty in care of mother It seems to me that we often read nega tive com m ents about our hospital system and I am certain that in many cases they are justifiable. However, I would like to expose the opposite side of the coin and relate our ow n p o sitiv e e x p e rie n c e at the O ak v ille Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. My m o th er w as a d m itte d th ro u g h the em ergency departm ent at O.T.M .H. at the end o f January where she spent the follow ing three months under the care of the most attentive personnel imaginable. The dedica tio n o f the d o c to rs , e s p e c ia lly Dr. Ken Collett and the nursing staff of the 4th floor w est and the 3rd floor west rehabilitation was exemplary with respect to M om 's treat ment and their attitude towards our family. In so many instances they went beyond the call o f duty offering kindness and true c o m p a ssio n to a p e rso n fo r w hom little could be done except to relieve the excruci- Nestle decision is nuts Re: 'Children-1, Nestle-0 ' Oakville Beaver, Wed. May 16, 2001. It is well known to all that some people have life threatening allergic reaction to nuts and must read package labels carefully to be safe. However we should always remember that the responsibility to be safe must rest with the individual, it is certainly not any one else's. To suggest, in this case, that Nestle must refrain from producing products containing nuts is, in my opinion, pure nonsense. J o rg e n P o s ch m a n n ating pain. We are thankful to Sacha who processed her admission and was so atten tive to the horrible pain o f her first night in the hospital. I will always remember Gloria washing and setting her hair, Janet and Rose M ary sitting w ith us offering com forting words, Patty the Physiotherapist encourag ing with her wonderful smile and Pam who cam e across as a longtim e friend. There were many others whose names I unfortu nately do not know , w ho should also be thanked. I recognize the shortfalls o f the Health System but let us acknow ledge the w ork accom plished by the devoted care givers among us. They are angels o f mercy who should be noticed and thanked. F ra n H o g a n Pud How is m . POING WITH HIS KICKING? T by S teve N ea s e we 'r e working o j it .1 | \ ii President Elementary Teachers Federation o f Ontario (ETFO) - Halton L in d a M id d a u g h , >I