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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday January 21, 2006 Commentary THE OAKVILLE BEAVER 467 Speers R d,, O a kville O n t. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 G a ssifie d A d ve rtisin g : 845-3824, ext. 224 G rc u la tio n : 845-9742 The O akville Beaver is a member of the O ntario Press C ouncil. The council is located at 80 Gould SL, Suite 206, Toronto, O nt, M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition ta rt, in the event of a typographical error, that portion o f advertising space occupied by the erroneous item , together w ith a reasonable allowance for signature, w ill not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisem ent w ill be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the rig h t to categorize advertisem ents or decline. E ditorial and advertising content o f the O akville Beaver is protected by copyright Unauthorized use is prohibited. Guest Colum nist Candidates must commit to Canada's prosperity Dr. Robert Turner, President, Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning here is increasing evidence th at the Canadian econom y is in for challenging tim es ahead. Recently, the Conference Board of Canada report ed th at Canada's economic perform ance has slipped from "Trie challenges sixth to 12th am ong 24 developed countries. Meanwhile, in th e 21st ce ntu the Ontario Cham ber of Commerce has issued warnings of a loom ing shortage of skilled and expert workers in areas ry are com plex, such as m anufacturing. n ot ju s t fo r our In fact, there are seismic shifts occurring throughout country's Canada's workforce. Canada faces new economic threats econom y, b ut fo r from growing powerhouses like India and China; while rapidly changing technology makes m any of today's job th e individuals skills obsolete. caught in this As well, Canada has an aging population, with many situation.The risk skilled workers slated to retire in the next 15 years. o f d o in g n o th in g The challenges in the 21st century are complex, not just for our country's economy, but for the individuals caught is e no rm ou s." in this situation. The risk of doing nothing is enorm ous. Consider the autoworkers facing layoffs in Oshawa and St. Catharines. Many of those people are in their 40s and 50s and are too young to retire. These are people with families to support and m ortgages to pay. As a province and as a country, we can't leave these people behind. Our country needs a comprehensive strategy th at properly trains young peo ple for th eir careers, and provides new learning and skills to workers whose skills are outdated, or to those workers who have lost th eir jobs. There is plenty to do. O ntario's 24 colleges have begun to identify the mag nitude of this challenge. Last fall, the colleges launched Pathway to Prosperity, a series of consulta tions on the workforce issues of the 21st century. The colleges have received a wide range of input and ideas from across the province and will soon be pro viding reports to the Ontario and federal governm ents. Our goal is to ensure th at the creative ideas in this province lead to significant actions and im prove ments. In the m eantim e, we m ust ensure th at education and training become poli cy priorities in the cu rrent federal election campaign. It is essential th at Canada sets a new vision for growth and prosperity -- a vision th at emphasizes skills, education and technological savvy for every person th roughout the work force. The country's federal candidates m ust com m it to a concrete plan to support the training and retraining of people in all sectors of our economy and work force. Our federal parties and candidates m ust outline th eir strategies for strengthening Canada's competitive advantage. The country's productivity is a central issue in 2006 - it will affect everything from the quality of job' s available, to our ability to sustain strong health and education systems. We m ust ensure that candidates provide credible answers to the biggest challenge of our time. Dr. Robert Turner IAN OLIVER P ublisher NEIL OLIVER A ssociate P ublisher JILL DAVIS E d ito r in C h ie f KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising D irector CHARLENE HALL D irecto r o f D istribution TERI CASAS Business M anager MANUEL GARCIA Production M anager RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography D irector RODJERRED M anaging E d ito r -Shopping News. Msstssauga Business Tunes. Mtssssauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmartet/Aurora Era-Banner. Northuntoertand News. North 'fork M rror. Oakwfe Beaver. O akvie Shopping News. OWbmers Hockey News. 0n*a Today. OshawaAVNfoy/Clanngton Port Perry The W eek Owen Sound TrOune. Palmerston Observer. Peterborough This Week, Picten County Guide, Richmond Hl/Thomhi/Vautyian Uberal, Scarborough M rror, Stouffwtelhhridge Trixn e. Forever Young. City of'fork Guanian Metroand Priming, Pubfching & ttstnbulmg LM .. includes: Ajax/Ptkering News A dertser, A lston HerakVCotfier. Arttnr Enterprise News, Barrie JVNance. Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardan, Burfngton Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent. CoingwoodWasaga Connection. East 'fork M ina. Erin Adwcate/Country Routes. Etobcoke Guardan, Ramtoorough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press. Hamston Review. Hurona Business Tm es, Undsay This Week. Markham Economist & S ir , Mkland/Penetanguismne Mkror, M#on Canadian Champion, MRon T RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Assodatton S H 3 .J I SK Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL M EDIA SPONSOR FOR: 1 M Awards ||c Js| oakville galleries | M m fm n s © £ ra The Oakville, Milton m F orm tK U k C /tU cdfind YMCA f L fr ie n d s , liberals , [ CANADIANS, LEND ME Yo u r VOTES "V F in d in g N ir v a n a in th e s w e e t s h u ffle o f T h e iP o d N a tio n T his m orning I gave my wife her notice. I tried not to be harsh. I ju st told her that she was no longer need ed to provide comfort and care and companionship and all other mushy relationship kind of crapola. Then I called my closest friends and told them , thanks, it's been real. But, alas, they too were being given the boot. It's not so m uch th at they'd worn out their welcome, so m uch as I'm moving on. So, I gave 'em their walking papers. There's the door out o f my life - don't let it hit you in the backside on the-way out. You see, I don't need these people. Honestly, I don't need anybody anymore. Because I got myself, a new best-est friend. I got myself an iPod. Ironically, considering this acquisition actually led to her prem ature obsolescence, it was my wife who bought me this precious baby. A gift. She's lived with my music nuttiness for years. She thought me and the iPod were a perfect match. Frankly, I wasn't so sure. For starters, I'm not very palsywalsy w ith technology. For some tim e now I've been hear ing obsessed, impassioned zealots of The iPod Nation wax ing fervently on the wonders of this sexy slip of technology. But I was naturally suspicious of a gizmo, no bigger than a playing card and only a tad thicker, th at could allegedly hold thousands of songs. Honestly, I thought, there has to be a downside, there's obviously a catch. How suspicious was I? Sliding the iPod-loading disc into my computer, I fully expected my com puter to spit it back out. Or, maybe the disc would ju st propel my com puter off into some terrible techie T\vilight Zone. Over the Christmas holidays, on a whim -- yes, I was a m an with too m uch tim e on his hands -- I im port ed all my CDs onto my computer. Some 4,500 songs. Once my wife got my iPod up and running (whilst I cowered in a Comer awaiting the meltdown, or actual Armageddon), she hit a button or two and the songs start ed magically m igrating from com puter to iPod. Five hours later, every single song I own, post-vinyl, was contained on the single sexy slip of technology. I was more than impressed, I was flabbergasted. Imagine my state of awe when my wife informed me that that was nothing: that I could still load another 3,000 songs on th at baby before it would be so full it would beg to be burped! Tblk about Nirvana (not the band, although my iPod now contains m ost every song Nirvana ever recorded). That night I hit the iPod's shuffle button and let the grand gizmo take m e places I hadn't been in years. Shuffling through decades, through genres, through CDs I hadn't listened to in eons, rediscovering old favs and hidden gems. Our middle son received an iPod for Christmas and we've noted that he's been anti-social ever since. We blamed it on his age. Now I'm thinking it's the iPod. Since the fate ful day I received mine, I've been a man lost in music. A headphone-wearing guy with his head in the clouds. I love it. And the best thing is, I may never again need hum an interaction. Honestly, the only tim e I need anything even resembling com panionship is when the iPod is recharging. Once charged, it's ju st me, my new best-est buddy, and whoever's wailin' away on the iPod shuffle. AndyJuniper can be visited at his Web site, wwwstrangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.