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

6 Oakville Beaver Weekend Sunday June 4, 2000 T h e O a k v il l e B e a v e r Ian Oliver, Publisher Neil Oliver, Associate Publisher Norman Alexander, E ditor Kelly Montague, Advertising D irector Steve Crozier, Circulation D irector Ten C asas, O ffice M anager M ark Dills, Production M anager Riziero Vertolli, Photography D irector K te tro fc y idPnrtng, Publshng &C W rto u tn gL kl. nctodes A *ax/P d«m g N ew sA d v e rtise r. A lston H eradO xrec B am eA d v an ce, B arry 'sB ayT he W eek .B o lto nE n terp rise. B w npton G uartfan. B ulngton P ost. B u rln g to n Shoppng N ew s. C ityPaent. C o in g w o o clA A & sag aC om ectcn. E ast M a rk M n o r. E n nA ^ocai^C ountry R outes. Etotxote G taitfan. R arrtxw xgh P ost G eo rg eto w nIn d ep en d en t/A cto nF reeP ress. H uoneB uanessT rnes. K ingstonthe W eek. U ndsay The W eek. M arkhamE cnom et &S un. M idland/Penetanguishine M irro r. M ilto nC anadian C ham pion. M ilto n Shopping N ew s. M esesauga B usiness T im es. M esesauga N ew s. N ap C T ee G u id e. N ew m ark et/A * jro raE ra-B an n er; N orthum berlandN ew s. N orthM a rkM irro r. O akvile B eav er. O ak v illeS hopptog N ew s. O idtm efS H octey N ew s, O nllaT o d ay .O sh aw a/W h ittay /C lan n g to nP ort P erryT he W eek. O w en Sound T rto u n e. P etertaorpughThe W eek . Pcton C ounty G utoe. R chm ond H ill/T h o rn h U lA k u g h an L ib eral. Scarborough M irro r. S touffvi^O xtandgeT rtau ie, Fore^rM a tin g .C itye rfM a rkG uardan R EC O G N IZED FOR E X C E LLE N C E BY: T H E O A K V ILLE BEAVER IS PROUD O F F IC IA L M E D IA SPONSOR FOR: " S ir lirsqle Bell Fund 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont L6K3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 TV AUCTION United Way ol Oakville IJAmard CAthena 0 © (Saki'ille ®Annrds FOR BUSINESS EXCELLENCE Editorials T h e r ig h t f ig h t T h e C a n a d ia n A llia n c e P a rty b ro u g h t its le a d e rs h ip ro ad sh o w to O akville Thursday and judging from the presentations, the three main hope fuls have staked out their positions. But the question remains whether vot ers from across the country will support the fledgling party. W hen the R eform Party dissolved to rem ake itself under the Alliance banner, it hoped to attract dissident federal Progressive Conservative sup porters. In this it has been successful. Ontario M unicipal Affairs M inister Tony C lem en t w as m o d erato r for the debate and ju s t one o f countless provincial Tories throw ing in their lot w ith A lliance...m ore particularly, w ith leadership candidate and form er Q ueen's Park backroom boy, Tom Long. B ut the session Thursday brought out the weaknesses in the candidates and by association, the party. Only A lberta Cabinet minister Stockwell Day can speak French with any degree of clarity, which means he has a distinct advantage over P reston M anning and the rest. And it's this capacity in French that could be the deciding factor in whether or not staunch PC loy alists throw in their lot with A lliance when a federal election is held. N otw ithstanding that Q uebec has becom e Death Valley for the Tories follow ing the M ulroney years, the language issue may be the only hope for A lliance to break through there and later in Atlantic Canada. It w on't be an easy sell in either area. M anning is fighting for his political life, D ay's views may be a bit too parochial for a sophisticated electorate and Tom Long has no public per sona, nor has he held an elected political position. Does the phrase `role the dice', ring a bell? I'M NOT SURE TH A T A MIKE HARRIS EFFIGY BURNING CLUB'QUALIFIES AS AN EXTRA-CURRICULAR A C T IV IT Y , M S . PHELPS -552* A %in V m ssa k IS T ra v e lo p e n s get there, the better seat I'll get on the bus. The guys who are late are going to have to sit beside the teacher!" Heaven forbid. So, I chauffeured him to the school and, sure enough, there was already a score of early birds lined up to lay claim to the best seats on the bus. Hopping out of the van, we recovered his luggage from the back and then, with an inaudible thanks for driving him, with barely a goodbye and nary a glance back, he left me standing staring at his departing back. I sh a re d a g u sh y g o o d b y e w ith myself, got all emotional on my own. N ot w anting to em barrass him in fro n t o f h is frie n d s, I m in d s o f th e y o u n g It w as 5 :4 5 a .m . H e had already been up for an hour -- show ered, dressed, eaten break fast -- and was ready and raring to go. The m orning that he had been so eagerly awaiting, for what seem ed like forever, had finally arrived. F id g ety w ith ex citem en t, he busied h im self trying to light a fire u n d e r m e. "C om e o n ," he said, "I'm going to be late." As patiently as possible, considering the time of day and the fact that I d id n o t y e t h av e any c a ffe in e c o u rs in g th ro u g h m y v e in s , I reminded him that he did not have to be at the school for an o th er half-hour. "Yeah, but the earlier I silently said, "See you in four days! Take care! Be good! Have fun! Try and leave bits of Quebec City standing!" And then I sped off in search of a coffee. A hhh, the e n d -o f-th e -y e a r, Grade 8 Excursion to some far-off ex o tic d e stin a tio n . A t schools across Ontario, it's become a ritu al, a rite of passage, a final fling students share with their class m ates b e fo re g ra d u a tio n . Assuredly, the trip will be educa tional, exciting, and the source of many, many memories. About the only rite of passage from my day th a t c o u ld p o ssib ly c o m p are w ould be slow dancing for the full, eight glorious minutes of Hey Jude with my neighbour, Debbie Wilson. While that dance was no ju n k e t to Q u ebec C ity, it w as educational and exciting. Seriously, back in my day, we did not have Grade 8 Excursions to far-off exotic destinations. If memory serves me, nearing the end o f the year, our hom etow n teacher who, as luck would have it, m oonlighted as a pig farmer, piled us onto a rickety old bus and personally drove us out of town to a nearby artificial insem ination centre for swine. Wow! W hat a treat. Talk about fulfilling a fanta sy. En route, this teacher drove the bus, carved the m anure out from under his fingernails with a pencil, and enlightened us in what he called, "the ways of the pig..." As parents, we know just how fortunate the kids o f today are; how many opportunities they are afforded; how m any gift horses (with wide open mouths) trot their way. L ess than one m onth ago, our son w as h a n g in g out on a beach in South Carolina. Today, h e 's v is itin g th e P la in s o f Abraham for a "battlefield work sh o p ," fo llo w ed by a lu n ch at P o rto fin o B istro ! A nd, in one month, he'll be boarding an air plane to Ireland for three weeks with his grandparents. As p a re n ts, w e h a rb o u r our fond memories o f trips to the arti fic ia l in s e m in a tio n c e n tre fo r swine and, at the same time, we try to offer our kids the world. At 6 a.m. the other day, as I finally mugged my first coffee, I found myself hoping that my son knows ju s t how lucky he is, and how much w e'll miss him when he's away...