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THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, Mar. 25. 1994 - 6 i owes-2w»:- 467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K SS4 845-3824 Fax: 845-3085 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 or 845-9743 . The Oakville Beaver, ublished every Sunday, Wednesda and Fn'da . at ‘67 Ian Oliver Publisher ”alpha... t2“2§l$tie‘li;'h"éll§ Robert Glasbey Advertising Director éhfi'éfitlteéfiafistigrl‘é‘ilgé‘t’v‘t’fl‘agéo all) i‘c’t‘é'n‘é‘ilil toss, NOW“ New“! Editor ElfilL/U‘Snléfihtllf“illumiscanfihn'?lan$'ll5°ifil‘s§¥§u22dnili: grief; cgfiuctggonweercwr sarcasmarazszetszsshrasasto... Tim C0188 PI'OdUCtiOTl Manager reproduction in whole or in part 01 this material is strictty lorbidden wit consent of the publisher. ThomhiWaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror. All material published in the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyriggthny the Advertishg is acepted on the condition that. in he event of e typographical error, that portion 01 the advertising space occu led by the erroneous hem. together with a reasonable allowance tor signature, will not be charged tor. but the balance or the advertisement wilrbe paid lot at the applicable rate. Tl'e publisher reserves the right to categorize and reject advertistng. In the event at typographical error, advertising goods mwmmwswmwmmwwmmxmw EDITORIAL :-:-.~:o:ox»>Ax»:oxomxxxmx<<~x~2~m~tux~>x<m<~xch~z~zcdo): Plate crazy If you offer it, they will buy it. That would seem to be the motto for the Ontario government‘s program of personalized or 'vanity' licence plates, which permit car owners to make up their own licence plate code...if they're in good taste, of course. And judging by the 300,000 of these plates that have sold since they went on sale 11 years ago, there are a lot of vain people out there with an extra $106 to make a statement for all to see. Licence plates are something Ontarians don't think too much about until they are forced to renew them. But even then, it's a bit of a let down to hand over some cash and receive a cheap one inch square number to stick on your old metal plate. ‘ And speaking of plates, don't you think it's about time the province came up with a newâ€"look licence plate? Ontario has always been stuck in a bit of a color rut when it comes to car licence plates: In days gone by, every year Ontario motorists would line up for two new metal plates each year and each year the colors would change. Well, change is a pretty strong word to describe the options of having black letters on a white background, white letters on a black background or the alternating blue and white colors we've had for years. How about something a bit more bold, perhaps red or green with some yel- low, something punchy, something unique...something that makes a statement. Queen's Park might even consider using reflective paint to make the plates easier to identify for police and help following drivers see an approaching . vehicle. Here's another item to think about. Why are we still using a 'crown' logo to break up the six-digit space? Sure, Ontario is almost as monarchist (give it a few years) as British Columbia, but surely the time is here to get on the inde- pendence bandwagon and come up with our own logo. Some wags, including Ontario Transportation Minister Gilles Pouliot, have suggested using corporate sports logos to boost revenue. Like the Argos? Put their logo on your plate with the word 'Boater' or some other bit of brilliance. We don't like that idea much but we do like the idea of another logo, some- thing like the trillium, our provincial flower...it's simple, yet elegant. And then there’s our licence plate motto 'Yours to discover'. Like most licence plate slogans, its meaning is vague and its origin even more obscure. So if we're going to change the plates, let's nix the slogan and come up with something a little more imaginative. Perhaps something like: 'The Can Do Province' or 'The Prosperity Province' (nothing like thinking positive, right?). ‘ A better pet ony Amalfa doesn't want to throw a wet towel on Halton turtle lovers. But the regional health department official said this week that because the Salmonella bacteria was found in pet shop tanks containing turtles, their sales should be stopped. He has also warned parents of children with turtles to be very careful when handling them and their tank water. Never put turtle tank water down the sink; use the toilet instead. And always wash your hands carefully after handling the turtle to avoid contamination of the bacteria which can make you seriously ill. The bacteria is especially hard on the very young and the elderly. So better stick to pets like a dog, cat or our favorite...a friend who is always there, doesn't smell, get ill, require food, exercise or special care....the pet rock. WEEKLY POLL Should the province reduce the amount of money paid to welfare recipients? r ’ - ‘ ‘ Till (tunntr BlAt'Ht - Cast your ballot by calling 845â€"5585, box 5008 to vote. . Callers have until 12 noon Thursday to register their vote. Results of the poll will be published in the next Friday edition of the Oakville Beaver. RESULTS OF LAST WEEK'SPOLL Should the Queen’s name be omitted in the new Girl Guides' oath? INFO _ CALL845-5585 Yes:26 N0:16 Alook bad( at the events that made headines in Oakvile. Cadet resignations were sign of Ellll trouble in police force 30 years ago 40 years ago , akville resident Peter Bennett and his associ- j ates set out on a unique skiing-climbing trip across the Rocky Mountain icefields. In this attempt at completing the first crossing of this haz- ardous strip of ice, mountain passes and glaciers, the expedition will test new equipment and diet theories for defence research authorities. The expedition is expected to last three weeks. 30 years ago Morale was reported to be low on the Oakville Police department after a civilian filing clerk was sent to an RCMP criminal identification course. The new unrest at Oakville police headquarters came to light when it was learned three officer cadets had ten- dered their resignations, effective immediately. An official of the Oakville Police Association said the resignations came after the department sent its civilâ€" ian filing clerk to “a highly specialized RCMP training program for experienced ofiicers.” In protesting the department’s action, Oakville Police Association members are seeking support from the 9,000â€"member Ontario Police Association. “It was a slap in the face to the men of the depart- ment,” said D.R. Latten, of the Ontario Police Association. “This type of thing wrecks the morale of any force.” 20 years ago A major Oakville shopping plaza distributed pam- phlets to its customers asking them for support against PUSH, a merchants" lobby that wants the provincial government to close all major stores at 6 pm. every night, except Thursday and Friday. Towers has been handing out the pamphlets at their check-out counters since Monday. Written up as 3 ‘Dear Customer” letter, it states,”Your freedom to shop any of six nights a week at our stores may soon be drastically restricted.” The threat comes from PUSH â€" Provincial Uniform Store Hours â€" and has the support of 10,000 merchants across Ontario. Store manager Eric Richardson said,”the decision on store hours is up to the people,” who can express their opposition by writing Solicitor-General George Kerr. He added that his personal opinion as a consumer supports the store’s policy to stay open weekday nights. “I resent being told when you can shop.I personally believe you should be able to shop when you want. We have enough laws saying what you can’t do, so you really feel it when people want to take something away that you already have,” said Richardson. 10 years ago Outrage and shock were the sentiments of north Oakville residents after learning the next regional dump site could be in their back yards around Bumhamthorpe and Trafalgar Roads. Many of the 150 residents at a public meeting echoed the views of Norman Eaton, president of the Welding Institute of Canada, who said he was astonâ€" ished he was not informed of the possibility of a landfill site in the area The current landfill site in Burlington is scheduled to be full by August and consultant peter Walker, told the residents a stringent timetable in a dump site selection process must be followed so that a site can be recom- mended to the province by that time. Six candidate sites for a regional landfill, three of them clustered in the Bumhamthorpe-Trafalgar Roads area, were announced two weeks ago. CED Oakville homeowners who fear they will pay too much in property taxes because ofover-assessment can stop worrying, according to the results of a preliminary study tabulated by the Ministry of Revenue. Because of the results, town councillors turned down on any move towards changing the current assessment to market-value based assessment. Town councillors halted further attempts to adopt market value-based assessment in Oakville, after being told by revenue ministry officials that residential taxes are close to what they should be. Assistant deputy minister of revenue jack Lettner told the mayor and councillors 75% of all residential taxes in Oakville are within 10% of the average calcu- lated by assessors.