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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday November 22, 2000 T h e O a k v il l e B ea ver Ia n O liv e r P u blisher N e l O liv e r Associate P u blisher N o r m a n A le x a n d e r E d ito r K e lly M o n t a g u e , A d vertising D ire cto r S t e v e C r o z i e r C irc u la tio n D ire cto r T e r i C a s a s O ffice M anager M a r k D ills P roductio n M anager R iz ie r o V e r to lli D ire ctor o f Photography M etroland P m tn g . P u tis rtn g & D istributing L id., includes: A*ax/Pickering News Advertiser. A ls to n HeralcVCouner, A rthur Enterprise News. B arre Advance. B arry's Bay The W eek. Bolton Enterprise. Bram pton GuanJan. B u rlin g to n P o st. B u rlin g to n S h o p p in g N ew s. C ity P a rent. CoingwoocVW asaga C orm ecton. East Mark M rror. Em AcKocat&'C otxitry R o u te s. E to b ico ke G u a rd ia n . F lam borough P o st. G eorgetow n Independent/Acton Free Press. H am ster Review, Hurone Busness Tm es. K ingston This W eek. Lindsay This W eek, M arkham Ecnomest & Sun. M idland/P enetanguishm e M irror. M ilton C anadian C ham pion, M ilto n Shoppng News. NAssesauga Buoness Tm es. M ssssauga News. Napanee G uide. N ew m arket/Aaora Era-Banner. N orthim beriand News. N orth \b rk Mirror. O akvle Bearor. O akvie Shoppng News. Qdbm ers H octey News. O rifa Today. O sbaw aW itby/C Jam gion Port Perry This Week. O ven S oind T rtxjn e . Palm erston Observer. Peterborough This W eek. P c tx i County GukJe. R ichm ond H « l/T h a n h ill/\fcu g h a n Liberal. S carborough M irra . S toufM M Jxbridge Tribuna Forever M xng, C ity o T ta k G uaidan O PIN IO N RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: w & ss# JIncJe BeII Fune) '° TY^ BRONH m UTTERFLY e Ontario Com m unity Newspapers Association . Canadian Community f*C N A Newspapers Association Newspapers S K \ Suburban of America TV AUCTION 467 Speers Rd., Oakville O n t L 6K 3S 4 (905) 8 4 5 - 3 8 2 4 Fax: 3 3 7 -5 5 6 7 Classified Advertising: 8 4 5 - 2 8 0 9 Circulation: 8 4 5 - 9 7 4 2 C fu ff f in d O N T A R I O A K V, I I I Town S O a & JU U Children' s Choir A D RVB U S b E SttT H E A R T S E d ito ria ls S m a rt p o litics He was seen as the saviour o f the federal Progressive Conservative party but instead he will be remembered as the person who put love of country over parti san politics and in so doing, reduced the Tories to also-rans. Jean C harest had an uphill battle when P rim e M in ister Jean C hretien is he took ov er the reins o f the party from a w ily politicia n a n d k n e w his Kim Campbell. But the Liberals were rid m a in th rea t fo r th e fu tu re w as ing h ig h and it looked like it w ould be Jean Charest. In co n vin cin g the u n to ld y e a rs b e fo re o r even if th e PC s Progressive C onservative leader co u ld m o u n t an effec tiv e n atio n al cam to b ecom e th e Q uebec L iberal paign. P a rty leader, h e sealed th e fate S o w ith the tid e o f separatism rising o f th e federal Tories. again in Quebec and the Liberals concerned that they didn't have anyone in the wings to run their provincial operations, they turned to Charest and played the nationalism card. He took the bait and lurched along in a campaign that saw the Liberals go dow n to defeat at the hands o f the Parti Quebecois. To Prim e M inister Jean Chretien, this accom plished two things - it helped avoid more erosion for the PQ and conveniently removed the most likely person to upset the federal Liberals down the road. Now the Quebec Liberal leader must be wondering if he made the right deci sion. It would have been a tough haul but in this campaign that's rapidly drawing to a close, Charest could have made an impact in his home province and else where. The Liberals gave him all the ammunition he would have needed to stage a vigorous campaign and added some charisma and dare we say it, more publici ty for the struggling Conservatives. Rick Byers, the Progressive Conservative candidate for Oakville is a realist and knows that it will take Liberals who are disappointed in the prime minister's perform ance to vote for the Tories en masse, if he is to win the day. PC leader Joe Clark may be a decent man with sound policies but the party needed som e fire that Jean Charest could have brought to the campaign. Mr. Chretien has reason to be pleased with his political acumen. O S H o JMiena .... ~~Z)he __ ( iJAtoan) (9 a k v ille (^ A w a rd s S ' FOR BUSINESS'EXCELLENCE | o a k v ille g a lle rie s | nem ftfafttM Itt IP IP N T PULLYou OVER For ARRAN G IN G ACRO W NLO A NFO R YoUR S H A W IN IG A NMW, - I PULLED Y o u O VER FO R A R R A N G IN G IT EY C E L L PHONE WHILE D R IV IN G / L e tte rs to th e E d ito r The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters m ust be typed, signed and include the w riter's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 `C i t y o f H a t t o n ' n o t i n e v i t a b l e s a y s m a y o r I write to congratulate all w ho participated in the M unicipal Election 2000. T hat includes all those w ho supported dem ocracy by allow ing their nam es to stand, w hether elected or not, and, o f course, all voters w ho participat ed to achieve a 27.2% voter turnout, despite seven m em bers o f Council, the M ayor includ ed, being acclaim ed. C o n g r a t u la t io n s to th e f ir s t e le c te d R egional Chair, Joyce Savoline, and the two other candidates w ho sought that office. L ots o f challenges contin u e to lie ahead and one o f those reflects w hat will happen to the G reater Toronto Services Board. A report w ill be received by the Province in January for com m ents, and actions hopefully will fol lo w th a t w ill d e f in e w h e re th e G r e a te r Toronto Services Board is going and in doing so will send a m essage whether further am al g a m a tio n s are th e w ish o f th e P ro v in c ia l Government. H is to r y te a c h e s u s m a n y le s s o n s a n d indeed the recent Beaver editorial was correct regarding the City o f M ississauga eating up P ort C redit, Streetsville, etc. H ow ever, le t's not forget that there used to be a T rafalgar Township, Town o f O akville, and a separate com m unity o f B ronte. I w ould respectfully subm it that our com m unity of Oakville as we now know it has already had its am algam a tion. D u rin g m y a tte n d a n c e a t th e A ll C a n d id a te s' m eetin g s, th ere w as only one question that I can recall regarding whether a City o f Halton was inevitable. T hat question was addressed to me and my response is one I am pleased to share again; I do not think that it is inevitable. It is far too prem ature to deter m ine w hether the am algam ation o f Toronto has realized the fiscal econom ies that w ere predicted. There is still the issue o f the loan that the Province made to the City that is sup posed to be repaid. T he newly configured cities o f Hamilton, O ttaw a and Sudbury and the now separate com m unities o f H aldim and and N orfolk that previously were a region, will all have to be studied closely. In many circles, it is deem ed th at the H arris g o v ern m en t sh o u ld d eclare victory on the dow nsizing o f m unicipalities. Since their election, there has been close to a 50% red u ctio n in m u n ic ip a lities an d local H ydro C o m m issio n s have been d isb a n d ed and now operate under the Corporation Act. sion and w onder if the m em bers w ho voted There are other pressing m atters that need to against Parent Watch have any idea how unique be addressed, such as a new M unicipal A ct this program is and how m uch the m eetings that would provide perm issive legislation and have benefited both parents and their children. Do they realize this program is not for the allow municipally elected governm ents to do hardened element of criminal life? It exists to their jo b rather than ju st be service delivery help middle-class parents and their children get agents fo r the Province. Such em p o w erin g through that rocky time known as adolescence. legislation, I believe, w ould ensure greater This group has literally saved lives by rescuing efficiencies at the municipal level and indeed young teens from life-threatening situations and also at the provincial and federal levels. M unicipal leaders are seeking the sam e giving hope to parents, when they thought they were all alone. If Oakville would ever remove respect that duly elected provincial leaders it's rose-coloured glasses, we just might see that are seeking from their federal counterparts. our city is in desperate need of a program like We are all elected by the sam e people and Parent Watch because it is O U R children and they are the only taxpayer. O U R parents that have crowded the monthly R e c e n tly , th e O n ta r io C h a m b e r o f meetings for the past eight years. Com m erce and the Federation o f Independent This seems once again a case where fiscal B u s in e s s e s c o n c u r r e d th a t I n c o m e responsibility supersedes common sense. Redistribution program s should not be funded I believe we should listen to the recommen on p ro p e rty ta x e s. T h ey b e lo n g w ith th e dations of the Police Chief Ean Algar and the orders o f governm ent that have incom e tax, front line police officers who understand that sales taxes, and other revenue stream s to pro Parent Watch works. We should be grateful that vide for program s that contribute to the w ell Ray Pidzamecky and Penny Smith have devot ness o f com m unities. K eeping these funding ed so much time to our community. We should recognize that they have operated on a w ish responsibilities on the property tax base does and a prayer for so many years and give this not prom ote sustainability and is counterpro program the $5,000 that is needed to keep it ductive to the financial and physical wellness o f people w hom all elected rep resen tativ es going. It would be my hope that this subject not be are in place to serve. A n n M u lv a le closed and that the Board would see beyond the M ayor dollars and into the reality o f Parent Watch and revisit their decision. Town o f Oakville N a n c y C la r k Letter of the Week Trustee must be responsive to Ward 3 families' needs It was with great concern that I read your post-election in terv iew w ith the new W ard 3 S ch o o l T ru stee, M ary Chapin. (Oakville Beaver, Wed. Nov. 15,200.) As the parent o f a child at Linbrook Public School, one o f the schools on the closure list, I was disturbed to read that m y new ly elected school trustee seem ed m ore con cerned w ith clo sin g sch o o ls in her ow n w ard to allow schools to be built in other wards. I certainly agree that there is a problem that must be addressed in the north. But closing schools in the south like Linbrook who firstly, have four portables and could not possibly fall into the category o f being under-enrolled and, secondly, offer French immer sion, which should be considered an important factor for schooling in a bilingual country, seems short-sighted. T h ere is certainly a h ealthy p o p u latio n in southeast Oakville who should not be deprived o f the right to attend their own local school in order to facilitate the building of new schools. W here will the French immersion program be accom modated? I believe that is a question that Ms. Chapin and the Halton School Board should be addressing. I hope that M aiy Chapin will take into consideration the needs o f the families that live in Ward 3 before she supports closures o r any other sw eep in g ch an g es to o u r current school situation. If our elected officials aren't careful, we will have this problem in reverse in the next 2 0 years as populations change. We elected you to represent our needs. Ms. Chapin supported the C learv iew p aren ts in th e ir b id not to be rem oved from the O TH S school district. I hope that she will support those o f us w ho feel that our school is at the heart o f our com m unity and listen to our concerns before taking any position that will forever change the where and how our children are schooled. L is a W h it e Parent Watch worthy of support It was with great dism ay that I read about the Halton Police Services Board's decision to reject a funding request from the parent support group Parent Watch. (Wed., Nov. 1st, Oakville Beaver) I can't understand the rationale for this deci- Too much road clutter W hile driving through certain sections o f east Oakville recently, I was impressed by the industry with w hich the residents o f that area endeavour to obstruct the roads in a variety of ways. O n B alsam D rive, I encountered garbage cans, bundles o f tw igs and even a sm all fire, which I presum e had all been dragged into the middle o f the road by the teen-aged residents of the area, making driving particularly challeng ing. Turning up Chartwell Road, I then encoun tered a challenging array o f construction para phernalia being used in the as yet unfinished task o f building a num ber o f m assive "sleeping policem en" across the road, the proportions and design o f which I have never encountered else where. I speculated whether this inclination to cre ate obstructions in the public roads is a peculiar ity o f the resid en ts o f this area w hich finds expression in more casual, informal ways dur ing their teen-age years, graduating into more sophisticated and im pressive em bodim ents as they becom e established in later life. R o b e rt M c N a m e e It's ab o u t Liberal arrog ance I w as shocked to read the statem ent by Bonnie Brown that, "the econom ic miracle w hich occurred in Canada was brought about by sheer com petent m anagem ent." I thought she, as Parliamentary Assistant to Jane Stewart, was going to apologize to the people o f O akville for squandering $2 billion o f taxpayers' money. H er statem ent epitom izes the arrogance that is the hall mark o f her party. It really is tim e for a change. P a t H u r le y Reader is Green to the core I appreciated the recent Beaver article w hich interviewed O ak v ille re sid e n ts a b o u t the u p co m in g fed e ra l electio n . Several expressed the opinion that they didn't like any o f the choices. W hen I think about the parties currently holding seats in Parliament, that is how I feel too. I believe that I have a duty to vote and I take it seriously. However, I'm tired o f elections in w hich I vote for the one that I dislike the least or vote to keep out the one I dislike the most. This can't be the way it's supposed to work. I w ant to vote for someone I want. Ever since they announced this election, I've been waiting to see if our riding w ould have a G reen Party candidate. I knew that I could feel good about voting G reen because they stand for something important. We need to take action about the environment. So I was very happy to read in the Beaver that Oakville does have a G reen candidate in the race. I w as especially pleased to see that it its David DeBelle. I am acquainted with him and he is a great person..I am looking forward to election day. I finally get to vote for som eone I really want. J a y n e K u lik a u s k a s