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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, July 15, 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 Economic plan working Terence Young, Oakville MP s we head into August this summer there is good reason to be optimistic: our government's economic action plan is working and we are in the midst of a recovery. Our budget just passed through the Senate. Last Friday, Terence Young Statistics Canada reported that 93,000 new jobs were created across Canada in June ­ the second largest monthly employment gain in Canada ever. Last year we introduced our two-year Canada's Economic Action Plan in response to the worst global economic downturn since the Second World War and we are implementing the measures necessary to ensure Canada gets back on track. Canadians have felt the impact of the economic downturn, but the government has been steadfast in providing stimulus and support to create jobs, boost consumer confidence, and help relieve the tax burden for families across the country. Our plan has helped to create nearly 310,000 jobs since last July (meanwhile, 225,000 jobs have been saved through expanded work-sharing agreements) Oakville is becoming a better place to live, work and play as our government invests more than $ 50 million in better roads, sports facilities wastewater facilities, public transit and other projects. It is little wonder Prime Minister Stephen Harper was able to lead the G8 resolutions in July. As an economist, our prime minister has helped ensure Canada is the country with the best fiscal position in the G-7. Last week the International Monetary Fund again predicted that Canada's economic growth will be at the head of the pack among these countries this year and next year. The British Broadcasting Corporation recently declared: "In this economy, we all want to be Canadian." Prime Minister Harper persuaded summit nations to follow through on fiscal stimulus, while also looking ahead to cut their deficits in half by 2013 and stabilize debt /GDP ratios by 2016. We're delivering results for Canadian families in other ways, as well. We're taking action to protect consumers with a proposed code of conduct for the credit and debit card industry, and our Fairness at the Pumps Act to ensure that gas pumps are accurate. The government will continue to crack down on crime by providing tougher sentences for criminals and more resources for the men and women of law enforcement. In the current Parliament, we have introduced bills that will strengthen the youth justice system, eliminate the use of house arrest sentences for violent criminals, and better protect children from sexual predators. There has been recent talk at the highest levels of the Liberal party of reviving the coalition to defeat the government. This coalition would do to Canada what the McGuinty liberals have done to Ontario: raise numerous taxes on business and families, halting our recovery and, according to experts, killing 400,000 jobs. Our Conservative government will continue to keep taxes low, help create jobs, crack down on crime, deliver real results for Canadian families, and ensure that 2010 is remembered as the year Canada led the world. 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 WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America Media Group Ltd. A RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville ATHENA Award ERIC RIEHL / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER WELLSPRING VOLUNTEERS: Wellspring recently honoured its volunteers, at the Ten Years of Volunteers event at Edgemere Private Residences. Pictured here are volunteers (l-r) Barb Brake (10 years), Diane Lanthier (5 years) Eve Willis (10 years) Helene Armstrong (5 years) and Lynne Turner (5 years). Culinary road less traveled, from clubhouses to `keen-wah' H istorically speaking, when it comes to food, I am not the most adventurous person around. For example: years after the fact, I am apparently still famous in the Bahamas for entering an authentic Bahamian restaurant in the company of a bevy of Bahamian government officials and ordering none of the delectable indigenous delights, but, rather, a good old reliable clubhouse sandwich. As a kid I was picky, which is to say I'd officially eliminated entire food groups from my diet before starting grade school. Because, as I told my mom, those foods were yucky and gross. This could have driven my mother crazy, but, instead, she took it as a challenge and started disguising the yucky, gross foods in other foods. All to no avail. I may not be smart, but I'm not stupid. And while I am still not altogether adventurous, I have managed to slowly expand my culinary horizons, trying and surprisingly enjoying many new foods. This new open-mindedness and culinary expansion must surely have my mother looking down from heaven in dumbfounded awe as her maddeningly picky progeny finally discovers a love for edibles such as seafood and vegetables ­ previously two forbidden foods ­ regularly eating and (gasp) even preparing them. Imagine her disbelief when she sees me sautéing in olive oil a little garlic and blanched rapini (later adding pine nuts and a splash of balsamic vinegar). Yes, I've come a long way from the days when I made it a rule not to try unknown foods, or foods whose name I could not pronounce. The former Andy Juniper stemmed from an uncharacteristic sampling of an appetizer called calamari only to discover I'd ingested... squid. I feel queasy just thinking about it. As for the latter, it stood to reason that no good could ever come out of eating a food you can't even pronounce. Seriously, I thought: when God wants us to eat certain foods, He gives them simple names like: steak and baked potato. Not, for instance, quinoa. Pronounced (inexplicably) keenwah. Quinoa is a species of goosefoot (a flowering plant) grown for its edible seeds that is suddenly as trendy as the unaccountably popular Kardashian sisters. Recently Maclean's magazine noted that this erstwhile "hippie food that vegans ate for its high protein count" has gone mainstream. To the point where a book called Quinoa 365 is perched atop Amazon.ca's list of best-selling cookbooks. Why the sudden surge in popularity? Because quinoa has been touted as a new so-called super-food, replete with all its fatty essential acids, protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals and complex carbohydrates (these carbs are so complex, they do trigonometry in their spare time). But does it taste good? Well, that depends. My wife was introduced to quinoa a few years ago at a cooking class in Niagara-on-the-Lake. She brought the find home and encouraged me to try it. Alas, to my refined taste buds, it tasted like a cross between, say, sawdust and wet sand. But, then, a magical thing happened. She began experimenting with the super seeds, adding hints of this and pinches of that, and now her quinoa dishes have progressed to the point where if I were in an authentic Quinoa restaurant in the country of Quinoa, I'd order a quinoa dish over a clubhouse. Seriously. It's that good. And I've come that far. Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, or followed at www.twitter.com/thesportjesters.