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6- The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday January 18, 2006 O P IN IO N & L E T T E R S The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver.is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR; Audft Board Member Recognized for Excellence fa y A A m C l Ontario Community /S T r-V r * CanadianCommunity I d Newspapers Association Newspapers Association {oakville galleries] S r T V A U C T I O N m A T H E N A A w ard v > -saatsjj. T h e O a k v ille , M ilto n XCOMH^fe' 'AGONwu SK> Suburban Newspapers of America o YM£A Wm IS fH i ig jf Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmartet/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thomhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Manager TERI CASAS Business Manager MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director CHARLENE HALL Director o fDistribution ,, ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, Caledon Enterprise, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, .Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Time for a change 'While the Liberals have done well in managing the economy, it is in money managing that they have also shown their greatest weakness. Billions of dollars -- our money -- have been wasted through the much-detailed sponsorship scandal (a scandal for which we are still awaiting answers), a flawed gun registry and the human resources program debacle. This is money that could have -- and should have -- gone into health care and education. Martin is now asking Canadians to let him fix the health care system but cynics can rightfully ask, why hasn't he taken the necessary steps to do so in the past 11 years? This blatant waste of money occurred on his watch as finance minister. Martin must regain the confi dence of taxpayers." -- Oakville Beaver, June 23,2004 Nineteen months ago we were pre pared to give Paul Martin's Liberals the benefit of the doubt, where the sponsor ship scandal was concerned. At the time, this newspaper believed Martin represent ed the lesser of two evils -- the other being the unknown quantity of Stephen Harper. Today, we're not so sure. While we still believe the Liberals and Conservatives are the only two credible choices to lead our country, we can't sup port Martin for a second-time. In many of the Prime Minister's speeches, whether it be about getting tough on crime, bringing accountability to government or improving social pro grams, we have heard him begin sentences with the phrase, "We are going to..." The fact remains the Liberals have held power for 13 years and, while they have done a credible job in dealing with the deficit and building a surplus, one can't help but wonder how much more time do they need to fix the other issues that ail this country? We can't forget-- nor should voters -- the sponsorship scandal. High-level Liberals misused millions of taxpayers' dollars and yet they want Canadians to see their way past that. Coupled with the bil lion dollar human resources boondoggle, the flawed and hugely-costly gun registry, an RCMP investigation into the possibility that sensitive income trust information may have been leaked through the federal finance ministry and now the Option Canada scandal, which broke last week, one can only wonder what next can we expect from the party which has been entrusted with OUR money for the past 13 years? Throughout this campaign, the Liberals have looked anything like a pol ished group ready to govern. Martin espe cially has often looked unprepared, dod dering and unfocused -- not exactly prime ministerial. Referring again to our editorial before the 2004 election we wrote: "For us, the Conservatives are one election too early. We would like to see Stephen Harper prove himself -- answer all those unan swered questions and show us that he can represent the interests of all Canadians, not just Westerners." To be sure, Harper' s Conservatives have run a much better campaign. He has man aged to temper the reservations many Canadians have about him and some members of his party. He has managed to keep in check -- or eliminate -- the radi cal right wingers the former Reform party was infamous for. More elected Tories from Ontario would only strengthen the party and keep it from listing too far to the right. The Conservatives have laid out an ambitious platform and one we believe that would deal seriously with criminals, benefit the - provinces, bring more accountability to government and be bet ter for many Canadians. While we are not naive enough to believe a Conservative government would be immune to scandal, Many thanks to Paul O'Hara for his we believe the Tories have earned the list of giant White Oak trees in Oakville right to goVern. {Is giant White Oak endangered?, We temper our support with a hope Oakville Beaver, Jan. 4). I have made a that Harper' s Conservatives earn only a minority government, giving us the auto note of this list so that I can seek them matic accountability that comes in know out as I travel around town. We certainly need a tree bylaw to pro ing their every move is being watched We have made our choice -- albeit tect our rich heritage. with reservations. EDITH CUNNINGHAM LETTERS TO THE EDITOR National day-care program worth saving In unveiling the Conservative platform in Oakville on Jan. 13, Stephen Harper finally let drop the other shoe in his cam paign: the announcement of cuts, cancellations, and funding freezes to a slew of important programs. As the father of two pre-school children, I am particularly concerned that if the Conservatives form the next govern ment, he plans to scrap the long-awaited national day-care program after the first year. Mine is one of the nearly 85 per cent of Canadian families in which both parents work. Not surprisingly, I am a big fan of the present program which establishes truly high-quality, regulated, licensed day care facilities modelled on the suc cessful Quebec system, and would even have provided train ing facilities for care workers. I was particularly excited about the crucially important early-learning component, some thing that has been highly successful in lifting the academic and work performance of entire Northern European nations. In scuttling the present plan, Mr. Harper offers nothing meaningful to replace it. His paltry tax credits to parents would barely make a dent in our expenses and would benefit wealthier families most. Canadian families deserve better BILLTRUFFEN 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 adveijisements or decline. · Thanks for the tree list BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com DIP YOU READ MAX A BETOE STORY? I read HIM A BOOK, > FROMTHEVALISY OFVooK,,, J -WHERE NOTHING GETS TAKEN EXCEPT WHEN < IT'S TOOK/ I f 'Ts >s KINO OF CONTAGIOUS