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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, December 20, 2012 · 6 The Oakville Beaver 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. 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 905-631-6095 Guest Column Neil Oliver Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West David harvey Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief, Halton Region Daniel Baird Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor Riziero Vertolli Photography Director Sandy Pare Business Manager RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association MARK DILLS Director of Production Manuel garcia Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Website www.oakvillebeaver.com The OakvilleBeaver is a division of Public input sought for 2013 federal budget Terence Young, Oakville MP Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville ATHENA Award staff, and Michelle Kerby of the Oakville Hospital Foundation, celebrated reaching the goal of raising $100,000 towards the new Oakville hospital. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Mye, Aoki, owner and executive chef, pledged to give 100 per cent of a week's sales from his restaurant, as well as the proceeds from a month-long silent auction in October, to the hospital. "This is just a small thing to do to repay the community and hospital that has been so good to me and my family," said Aoki, whose youngest child was born at Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. MYE $100K DONATION: Motoaki `Mo' Aoki (centre), along with family members, Mye Japanese restaurant SUBMITTED PHOTO As we begin the new year, our government is busy preparing the 2013 budget. The emphasis will be on progrowth plans for Canada. Please e-mail me or write me with your ideas and priorities for our federal budget in the coming weeks at: terence.young@parl.gc.ca or Terence Young, Member of Parliament, 165 Cross Ave., Oakville, ON L6J 0A9. Terence Young Our Conservative government is focused on the economy. To that end, we have been implementing Economic Action Plan 2012 to help grow the economy and create jobs. Our goal is to keep Canada on the right track: more than 820,000 new jobs have been created since the end of the global recession. This is the best growth record among all the large world economic powers and shows Canada's Economic Plan is working. The private sector has been the primary driver of new job creation, creating more than 90 per cent of those new jobs. As a trading country, Canada depends on a strong global economy for exports. As such, our government has been active in developing additional foreign export markets in 50 countries around the world. As we head into 2013, there are many challenges to be faced in the global economy, particularly in Europe and the U.S. Downward pressure has been placed on the Canadian economy by the effects of sovereign debt crisis in Europe, a slower than expected recovery in the U.S. and slower growth in Asia. However, while our government cannot control global commodity prices, we can control government program spending. In fact, program spending is projected to decline over the next few years, even falling below pre-recession levels. As we continue working toward a balanced budget, we have not and will not reduce transfers to Canadians, such as seniors or children, or transfers to other levels of government for services Canadian families rely on, such as healthcare and social services. We will balance the budget by 2015-16 as planned. As we have done for the past few years, we will be consulting with citizens in Oakville to discuss ways of strengthening Canada's economy. We hope to make such ideas and suggestions part of the upcoming federal budget. At the same time, to further ensure all Canadians can participate in the process, the federal government has also launched an online pre-budget consultation through the federal Finance Department website. All those interested in participating can find more information at www.fin. gc.ca. According to the Mayans (and a plumber) the end is nigh T his is my last column ever. On account of the world ending. Yes, people, the time is nigh. Tomorrow -- Friday, Dec. 21, for those keeping score at home -- the world will end as the Mayan calendar allegedly indicates. If by chance you do not believe, well, for starters: what the heck is wrong with you? Seriously, look on the Internet where literally millions of websites exist that absolutely, positively, beyond a shadow of a doubt, confirm the theory. And the Internet is never wrong. Of course there are people -- government weasels, rocket scientists, etc. -- bent on refuting the facts. No less than NASA and the U.S. government have issued releases to try and quell fears and calm the masses. And, contrary to what you might imagine, the masses do indeed need calming. According to NASA: "Unfortunately, many of these rumours have people frightened, especially children. NASA has received thousands of letters concerned about the end of the world." And thousands of Americans cannot be wrong. Hey, I know what you're thinking. Why now? Why after four-billion years of existence is the world going to suddenly not exist? NASA explains the theory: "The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012." Ah, the old, if at first you don't succeed. Now, in case you remain skeptical, let me assure you that I have inside information the Doomsday date is a lock. Last week Andy Juniper my plumber was here snaking a toilet or two in our perpetually plugged home, and as he snaked he assured me that the world is about to end; he knows this because he saw a convincing TV documentary. So convincing, he ran out and bought survival gear. So much gear that his wife suggested he was nuts, and left him. "Wait," I said, "Why buy survival gear? If the world ends, doesn't that mean no one survives?" He pretended not to hear my question. And I bit my lip to refrain from asking: you believe the world is going to end and yet you're spending your final days unplugging toilets? Of course, if you want to delude yourself into not believing, stay away from plumbers, and off the Internet and social media, which is all abuzz about The End. Granted, not everyone on these sites is a believer. As some guy tweeted: "In case the Mayans were wrong about Dec. 21, my Simpsons calendar runs out on Jan. 31." Go ahead, laugh. Next week, Doomsday-ers will have their day. A comet-caused catastrophe. A hidden planet colliding with Earth. Or, my personal hypothesis -- aliens unplugging our Internet and freezing our cellphones, thusly, sending us all jumping off the nearest cliff. And now, dear readers, I must take care of business. To the cockroaches that will naturally survive, I bequeath my considerable collection of music. As an aside to the roaches, these records go well with wine. And play them loud -- on 11, if your speakers can handle it. And to my plumber, or other possible survivors, could someone come look in on our dog. I know the hound will survive -- he can sleep through anything and I highly doubt he'd let the end of the world get in the way of a good nap. That's it. Adieu, everyone. See you on the other side. Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook at www.facebook.com, or followed at www.twitter.com/ thesportjesters.