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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday January 12, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Commentary Guest Columnist NEIL OLIVER Publisher DAVE HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager Metroland Media Group Ltd. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCHOR Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver is a division of Regional budget invests in Halton Gary Carr, Halton Region Chair ach year, Halton Regional Council and staff go through a rigorous process to prepare the annual budget and business plan. This process is guided by the budget directions approved by regional council earlier in the year. The 2008 Budget and Business Plan, that was approved by regional council on Dec. 19, 2007, will guide the Region in providing the programs and services that make Halton such a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. Halton's 2008 Budget and Business Plan results in a property tax reduction of 0.6 per cent for regional programs and services, and an increase of 5.3 per cent for police services, for a combined property tax increase of 1.3 per cent. For a typical household having a current value assessment (CVA) of $300,000, the property tax impact is a reduction of $5 for regional services and an increase of $21.54 for police services, for a combined increase of $16.54 for a typical household. The 2008 Rate-Supported Budget for water and wastewater services requires an increase of 6.5 per cent. The typical household's annual combined water and wastewater bill will increase by $43.98. The 2008 budget addresses infrastructure and service requirements outlined in the Fairness for Halton campaign and the priorities in Halton Region's 2007-2010 Strategic Plan. The Fairness for Halton campaign was established to address the fact that Halton Region cannot accommodate the growth targets specified in the Province's Places to Grow Plan without adequate financial tools and funding commitments from the Ontario government for municipal infrastructure and social service needs. The 2008 Budget had three key themes: Investing in Infrastructure Requirements; Towards Sustainability; and, Committing to Safe and Healthy Communities. As part of its 2008 Budget, Halton Region also announced the creation of a Sustainability Fund. This reserve will support the Region's participation in strategic initiatives related to economic development and environmental protection, and those that will benefit the Region as a whole. The 2008 Budget allocates funding through the Sustainability Fund to three projects, including the Limestone Legacy Plan for Halton Escarpment Parks, the Royal Botanical Gardens Rejuvenation Project, and Credit Valley Conservation's renewal of the Terra Cotta Environmental Education Centre. For more information about the Sustainability Fund or the 2008 Budget, visit Halton Region's website at www.halton.ca or call 905-825-6000, toll free 1-866-442-5866 (1-866-4HALTON) or TTY 905-827-9833. Gary Carr IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora EraBanner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America E THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION A personal film festival from Lars to Juno and The Savages M y wife and I entered the Christmas holidays with only one goal ­ actually two, if you count staying sane amid the madness of the season ­ and that was to get out of the house and into theatres to see 10 movies. Why? Because we'd been compiling a list of interesting new releases and by the time the holidays arrived, that list totaled 10. Oh, and because we are finally at the point where we have the freedom to periodically leave the house. As parents you endure a period of what feels like about 100 years of incarceration (house arrest) wherein going to the movies is either not an option or it's an ordeal (precious progeny doesn't fare well with babysitters; one of the kids is down with the sniffles; another is up with nightmares; babysitter's upped her hourly to $100; or you're simply too exhausted to venture out after a long day of surviving parenthood). Suddenly we find ourselves with kids who are pretty independent and who, quite frankly, prefer it when we are out. Truth is, on nights when they are actually home, they practically push us out the door. Our biggest concern when we leave is that we'll come home to discover they've changed the locks. We began our personal film fest with Lars and the Real Girl, a quirky, arty, indie flick that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Before I offer my impressions, you need to know where I'm coming from: you need to know my wife and I share similar taste in movies in that we lean toward the quirky, the arty and the indie. Further, I'm one of those people whose appreciation of a movie can hinge on the smallest thing (Garden State Andy Juniper is one of my favorites in part because of a brief scene where the lead characters scream into a torrential rain with the divine The Only Living Boy In New York playing in the background). Suffice to say, we loved Lars, in large part to the amazing performance of Ryan Gosling. Rating 7.5. Next up, Enchanted. Because we wanted to take our 12-yearold daughter to the movies and this Disney fairytale seemed appropriate. My wife and daughter really enjoyed Enchanted. Maybe it's a girl thing. I drifted into a coma about halfway through and had to be resuscitated at the conclusion. Rating. 6.0. Next up, Juno. Best movie we saw. Ellen Page is Oscar-worthy and the supporting cast, including Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman, is superb. All on a paltry $2.5-million budget. Rating 8.5. And then came, The Savages. Yes, we went from the seriocomic Juno to this dark drama, a story of two siblings uniting to care for a parent dying of vascular dementia, the very disease that killed my father. Talk about too close to home. And yet, The Savages was riveting. Likewise the stellar performances of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney. Rating 8.0. New Year's Eve found us in a darkened theatre watching the weeper, P.S. I Love You, starring Hilary Swank as a grieving young widow. Not as good as hoped for, not as bad as expected. Rating 7.0. Finally, we caught the movie I'd been dying to see, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, because I love a good comedy. And Golden Globe-nominated Walk Hard is a good comedy, documenting (or, rather, Spinal Tap-ishly mock-umenting) the sordid life and times of fictional music legend Dewey Cox. Rating 8.0. Thus ended our own holiday film fest. We tried for 10, we saw six. We may have failed in our quest, but we sure had fun. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.