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6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday October 1, 1999 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 Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Martin Doherty Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Photography Director Metroland Printng. Pubfchng & Detnbutng Ltd, refutes A^ax/Pckemg News Ad^toer. AJfcton Herafcl/Couier. Bame A**/anca Barry's Bay The Week. Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardian. Butngton Poet. Bufngton Shoppng News. Gty Parent. CoingwoocWVasaga Connection. East York Minor. Erin Ack/ocat^Country Routes. Etobcoke Geardan. Ramboroug^i Post. Georgetown hdeperdent/Acton Free Press. Hurone Busness Times, Kingston This Week. Undsay The Week. Markham Ecnomrst & Sun. Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror. Miton Canadian Champion. Milton Shopping News. Mississauga Business Times. Mississauga News. Naparee Gude. Newmarket/Aixora Era-Banner. Northumberland News, North York Mrror. Oakv^e Beaver. Oakvile Shopping News. O w n e rs Hockey News. Onto Today. Oshawa/Whitby/CJanrigton Port Peny The Week, Owen Sound Tribune. Peterborough The Week. Pet on County Guide. Richmond Hdl'Thomhrfl/Vaughan Liberal. Scarborough Mirror. StouffviertJxbndge Tribute. Fore\«r Youig. City of York Guardan RECOGNIZED FOR THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: EXCELLENCE BY: 467 Speers Rd, Oakville Ont L6K3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 r © m .. H n^ Ie B e II Fu n d s s s Editorials Gridlock "This (traffic congestion) is positioned to be the m ajor urban problem a t the turn o f the century. If we don t act, w e're going to have a congestion crisis that gets out o f control * There's nothing like living in a fool's paradise and that's where we've been in thinking that the construction of the Hwy. 407 at the QEW-Hwy. 403 Burlington interchange would ease our traffic woes. Now comes word that not only won't the new highway help us out of our gridlock problems, the situation will only get dramatically worse. The num bers in them selves are daunting . A sem inar held on the transportation issue this week, found that from now until 2016 every month will see an additional 650 vehicles join the mayhem on area roads. Prem ier M ike H arris is big on expounding on the Ontario economic miracle but he's silent on how his government is going to deal with a surging population. And that lack of planning has the region's number-crunchers worried. No kidding. It's rare when bureaucrats put things in black and white but that's just what David McCleary did in expressing concern that there's been no planning or money coming from the province to deal with the crisis. In short, the province has turned its eye away from a problem that's readily visible to everyone in the GTA. McCleary, the region's senior policy advisor, put it succinctly: "This (traffic congestion) is positioned to be the major urban problem at the turn of the century. If we don't act, we're going to have a congestion crisis that gets out of control." With the GTA and Hamilton-Wentworth regions generating about 21% of the Gross National Product and half of the Gross Provincial Product, it's clear the province and the country have a big stake in dealing with the traffic congestion issue. It's beyond time that both levels of government realized this fact. a s ...many Ontarians aren't aware of the fact that only a small portion of gasoline, vehicle licence fees and other assorted taxes, go to maintaining existing and funding new roads...the Better Roads Coalition is a Toronto- based lobby group that believes better roads help our social and economic transportation needs...changes made by the Harris government mean that 90% of our road system is financed by property taxes so that only 54% of the tra ff ic on the roads is no longer rece iv in g the b enefit o f the aforementioned road user taxes paid by Ontario road users...they've made a wish list to improve our roads, among them: "That the Ontario government dedicate and transfer a portion of its road-user revenues to municipalities to support municipal systems...That the Ontario government increase the annual allocation to support the design, construction, rehabilitation, expansion , operations and m aintenance o f the provincial highway system...That the Ontario government return to its traditional position of leadership in the planning for, and the provision of, highway and road infrastructure and services...That the federal government commit to the support o f the National Highway system in Ontario, and allocate an ap p ro p ria te p o rtio n o f the $2 b illio n in fuel tax revenues to the rehabilitation and enhancement of the system, including the international gateways.." □ □ O ...you might recall a column on France and the French written by William Thomas, that appeared in the Beaver some time ago...it elicited a lot of response, both pro and con...this week we received an e-mail from a woman who travels to France on business regularly and came across a copy of the column... "It lifted my spirits as l was sure / was the only human being that suffered from the smell and rudeness o f that disgusting place. While there, 1 sought the recycle box fo r my Coke and was told 'You can't expect the French to recycle.' That's a whole other column. Thanks fo r making my day. "...those are her words, not ours.... Psssssst... is a compendium o f observations around Oakville and we're open to contributions from the public at large too. Just fax us at 337-5567 attention to Pssssssssssst... Pages of the Past MD warned of high medicare costs 50 years ago Before the weekly (court) session opened on Thursday, Chief J. B. Derry remarked to magistrate T.H. Moorehead that the Bible now being used in court is dated 1867. He added that he would be surprised if people would refuse to touch it in court proceedings, on the grounds that it was unsanitary . M agistrate Moorehead reached down, opened his briefcase and presented a Bible to the chief. -- Oakville Record-Star, Sept. 29, 1949 40 years ago Trafalgar Police D epartm ent has adopted stringent requirements for applicants in an effort to establish police work on a more professional basis. According to the requirements, applicants with no experience must be between the ages of 21 and 30, must be Canadians and must have a minimum Grade 10 schooling. All applicants must be at least 5'9" tall, weigh more than 165 pounds and have a certificate of good health from the Department's physician. They also must have a good credit rating, be able to pass a driving test given by the Department and have good moral and character habits. The applicant and his wife, if he is married, will be interviewed by Department officials before an application is filed with the Police Commission for approval. -- Oakville Record-Star, Oct. I, 1959 30 years ago Officials of the Halton County Medical Society issued no public release following a meeting of doctors in Oakville last night to discuss the new medicare plan --to be known as the Ontario Health Services Insurance plan (OHSIP). It was revealed yesterday the meeting, under the chairm ansh ip o f Dr. W illiam M ilaw ski, o f Burlington, who heads the Halton Association, was called to consider: (1) Whether Halton doctors will charge patients the 10 per cent fee not covered by OHSIP; (2) Whether doctors will bill patients direct for the ir serv ices, or w hether they will bill the government medicare plan. An Oakville doctor commenting on medicare said it is his opinion, the cost of OHSIP will be far in excess of what the province expects and far in excess of its medicare budget. The doctor said the public can expect to get hit with "the full wallop of medicare costs" in another year, after the program has been under way." "If people think the 10 per cent difference is bad, wait until next year when it could reach 20 per cent," said the doctor. "I believe we fail to realize this is a very, very costly program we are jumping into." -- Daily Journal-Record, Sept. 25, 1969 JU Li Taken from the archives of the Oakville Beaver including stories from The Oakville Record-Star, The Oakville- Trafalgar Journal, the Oakville Journal Record and the Oakville Beaver. Editorials