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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, March 4, 2010 · 6 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 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 Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager The Oakville Beaver is a division of Town should not be regulating FPM John Sawyer, Oakville Chamber of Commerce president John Sawyer Oakville. We all breathe the same air -- and we need an effective solution for improving air quality. The Chamber supports the initiative of Town Council to seek provincial government regulation of Fine Particulate Matter (FPM) where it has a negative impact on human health. We have called on the Minister of the Environment and the Environmental Commissioner to establish provincial regulation of FPM and to set firm deadlines and an action plan for implementation. While we fully support council's efforts to encourage the Ontario government to regulate FPM, we are not in support of municipal regulation of the airshed. Oakville does not exist in a bubble. Issues impacting our air quality cannot be effectively regulated locally. A municipal air quality bylaw cannot achieve its stated objective of reducing levels of FPM in Oakville's air. Studies have established that more than 70 per cent of the targeted emissions do not come from industry and that up to 50 per cent of the emissions originate from as far away as the Ohio Valley and the mid-western U.S. Oakville's bylaw will do nothing to protect us from emissions from those sources. Oakville's industrial base is small compared to other municipalities in and around our airshed. The potential reduction in emissions as a result of the Town's bylaw will be less than one per cent. We need emission-reduction strategies supported by regulation. And, with limited private and public sector resources, it is important that we focus our efforts and resources where they will produce the most effective and meaningful outcomes. What the bylaw will do is unfairly target and punish Oakville businesses for the sins of others. Oakville business subsidizes the residential tax base, provides funding for local sports, arts programs and charities. Local businesses employ residents thereby reducing commuter traffic, the single largest source of emissions. The municipal air quality bylaw has the potential to drive existing businesses out of See Bylaw page 7 WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Suburban Newspapers of America Media Group Ltd. RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association T he Oakville Chamber of Commerce supports initiatives to improve air quality and air quality standards. Our members and their families live and work in THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville ATHENA Award MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER CHEERING SECTION: It was on the tail end, but it was spectacular and Chris Hemming reacts as he watches Canada's men's Olympic hockey team score a gold medal in the final hours of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. St. Jude's Church organized a gathering to watch the game that also served as a fundraiser for relief efforts in Haiti. Who needs friends and family when you've got Facebook I 've decided to forsake my family and friends. Ditch them all, show 'em the door. Always a politically correct, subtle sort and never one to burn bridges, I sent them a heartfelt blanket email that began: "We're through. Finished. It's over. Trust me: it's not me, it's you. Arrivederci. Buzz off. Don't let the proverbial door hit you in the backside on your way out of my life." Alas, you may wonder, what would drive a man to toss all of his family and friends out of his life? Simple. Truth is, I don't need them anymore. They were whiny and always demanding things from me like commitment, engagement, honest emotion and my actual physical presence in their lives. Besides, I found Facebook. That's right, Facebook. I know, I know, I swore on a stack of broken laptops that I would never join any social-networking club that would have me as a member, and I surely would never join Facebook which -- socially speaking, from the outside looking in -- appears to be frighteningly similar to (gasp) high school. For the last couple of years my kids tried to get me to log in and sign on to Facebook, saying that it would be all kinds of crazy fun, and I could reconnect with people I haven't seen in years (why?), and I could poke people (seriously?), and throw stuff at their `walls'. Well, as tempting as it sounded -- who doesn't want to spend a morning tossing stuff at people's `walls'? -- I took a big, old, grumpy pass. Well, a while back I started this little web venture (shameless plug alert), www.thesportjesters.ca dedicated to assorted silliness in the guise of sports humour. To promote this site, my peeps Andy Juniper (that's youth-speak for, my people -- agents, lawyers, accountants, handlers, hair stylists, nose-hair attendants, etc.) convinced me that if I was indeed bent on world domination in the field of sporting yuks, I needed to become a social-media maven; I needed to be on Twitter. Reluctantly, I took the plunge. Soon I was all over Twitter like the true twit that I am. And the way I took to Twitter made my peeps think I was ready for a Facebook-ian experience. So, they signed me up. And now, six weeks later, I have more than 550 friends. Imagine, a reclusive writer who lives in the middle of nowhere with more than 550 friends. I mean, I don't even know 550 peo- ple and yet, Facebook doesn't lie. Honestly, I never knew I could be this freakishly popular, and I sure never thought I'd be fast (Facebook) friends with, among others, actresses Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway and Cindy Williams (yes, the Cindy Williams -- Shirley, or, ah Laverne, of Laverne and Shirley), CNN's Anderson Cooper, actor Anthony Hopkins, and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker. No, that's not a typo: Brooklyn Decker. SI swimsuit model. And you think I need family and friends? What for? Sure I used to love these people but, to the best of my knowledge, not one of them has ever appeared on the cover of SI's swimsuit edition in a canary-yellow bikini. Not one. Wait. I see from my Facebook friend organizer that I actually have two Brooklyn Deckers listed as friends. Hmmm. Well, I'm sure one is the real deal. I mean, practically all of my new-found friends are the real deal. As my peeps and I like to say, BFFF. Best Facebook Friends Forever. Andy Juniper can be visited at www.strangledeggs.com, contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, or followed at www.twitter.com/thesportjesters.