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

THE OAKVILLE BEAVER .\Q"‘ C i E ‘Canada s Best C)MKMZ;/VWMW” CCNA Better Newspapers Competition 1993 A Metroland Community Newspaper Vol. 32 No. 146 And a woman shall lead them Burlington councillor elected regional chair on first ballot By ANGELA BLACKBURN Special to the Beaver Halton, a woman is at the helm. Fortyâ€"nineâ€"yearâ€"old Joyce Savoline was elected regional chair to replace Peter Pomeroy at Wednesday‘s inaugural council meeting. In what didn‘t even amount to a close race, Savoline, a Burlington regional councillor for 12 years, was elected chair with the necessary 13 of 24 regional councillors‘ votes Twenty years after regional government came to on the first ballot. INSIDE A ‘dandy‘ tale Author‘s debut is produces enchanting children‘s book N. JOâ€"ANN McKINNON B.Sc. D.V.M. M.R.CVS. OAKVILLE TOWN 338â€"17387 Canadian Publications Mail Product Agreement #435â€"201 Oakville Ward 1 regional counâ€" cillor Kevin Flynn â€" promising to open the regional chair‘s election to the public by 1997 if elected â€" took seven votes. Milton Mayor Gord Krantz received only four. Numerous people, who had declared their intentions of seekâ€" ing the $71,226 a year chair‘s job, had dropped out by the time votes were cast. Defeated Burlington mayoral candidate, Doug Greenaway, one of several to pull out, said he couldn‘t get support and didn‘t want to lose twice in a row. Others included Halton Hills municipal councillor Rob Heaton; Oakville regional councillor Stephen Sparling; and Burlington regional councillor Ralph Scholtens. Six of seven Oakville councilâ€" lors, excepting Sparling who backed Savoline, voted for Flynn. Eight of nine Burlington councilâ€" lors, excepting Bob Wood, voted for Savoline. Milton‘s two counâ€" cillors â€" Colin Best and Barry Lee â€" backed Krantz, along with newly elected Halton Hills remaining four councillors backed Savoline. "I‘m a bit surprised by winning on the first ballot. I had some susâ€" picion that it would happen on the second ballot," said Savoline. Savoline is not a university graduate. She has worked in variâ€" ous financial and insurance instiâ€" tutions, but for the most part, raised her family and moved through the echelons of the politiâ€" cal arena. (See ‘Savoline‘ page 7) FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1994 Forouz Andeh Masrour, of the Baha‘i Community of Oakville, lights a candle in honor of Genevieve Bergeron, one of 14 women slain by Marc Lepine at the University of Montreal five years ago. (Photo by Barrie Erskine) 32 Pages Hey y Kids > Ca\\ me at | _But 20M / free pre-recorded ssage provide by IDZ BIZ_ 75 Cents (GST included) Candelight vigil Montreal massacre must not be reépeated By DIANE HART Special to the Beaver "I: o0 avoid a repeat of the tragic events surrounding the Montreal massacre, the silence must be broken. Five years after 14 women were murdered at the University of Montreal, the director of the Halton Rape Crisis Centre says the day must continue to be marked as a day to break the silence surrounding vioâ€" lence against women. Bev LeFrancois â€" speaking at the candlelight vigil marking the _ tragedy‘s anniversary Tuesday â€" said that it was important to break the silence. "It is society‘s silence over the years that has perpetuated this violence," she maintained. Across Canada, there were simiâ€" lar candlelight vigils to mark the Dec. 6th slayings. A variety of people from the community were involved in this year‘s ceremony at St. John‘s United Church, Last year, poor weather conditions put a damper on the canâ€" dlelight vigil in George‘s Square. About 150 people gathered for the evening listened to an Ojibway prayer, a rock group from St. Mildred‘s Lightbourn School, the Appleby College Jazz Choir, music from organist Brian Turnbull, and rousing gospel music from a 15â€" yearâ€"old Melissa Prescott. Fourteen members of the comâ€" munity lit candles commemorating the victims and spoke briefly about (See ‘Candles‘ page 4) Step in right direction Vigil speaker backs Liberal gun control laws By DIANE HART Special to the Beaver woman who deals with vioâ€" lence against women on a daily basis believes the new gun control laws are a step in the right direction. Bev LeFrancois, director of the Halton Rape Crisis Centre, said the new gun control laws will make it more difficult for someone to acquire a rifle such as the one used by Marc BREW IT OUR WAY. COFFEE PACKETS AND BREWER #Z% a GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT! Lepine in the murders of 14 women at the University of Montreal five years ago. And to her, that can only be a good thing. As someone whose organization handles about 2,000 calls every year, â€" she views anything that may curb violence against women as a positive step. "It was obviously easy for him to get a gun and I know that fewer guns will mean fewer deaths," she said, following the candlelight vigil to remember the Montreal massacre. Lepine committed suicide at the scene, using his semiâ€"automatic Sturm Ruger Miniâ€"14 rifle, one of the guns federal justice minister Allan Rock wants to ban under the new gunâ€"control laws. The federal justice minister has stated he will introduce the tough new gunâ€"control bill next year. For LeFrancois, it is important the (See ‘Speaker‘ page 4)