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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER W ednesday March 29, 2000 T h e O a k v il l e B e a v e r Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crozier Circulation Director Teri Casas OfficeManager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director ofPhotography Metroiand Printing, Publishing & Distnbuting Ltd.. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald'Couher. Barrie Advance. Barry's Bay This Week. Bolton Enteipnse. Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post. Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collngwood/W&saga Connection. East Mxk Mirror, Enn Advocate/Country Routes. Etobicoke Guarclan, Flamborough Post, Georgetoyvn independent/'Acton Free Press. Huronia Business Tmes, Kingston This Week. Undsay This Week. Markham Ecnomist & Sun. Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror. Milton Canadian Champion. Milton Shoppng News. Mississauga Business Tmes, Mississauga News. Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News. North Vbrk Mrror. Oakville Beaver. Oakville Shopping News. OkJtimers Hockey News. Orillia Today. Oshawa/Whtby/Oamgton Port Perry This Week. O ven Sound Tribune. Peterborough This Week. Picton C ounty Guide. Richm ond Hill/Thomhill/Vaughan Liberal. Scarborough Mirror. Stouffville/Uxbridge Tnbune. Fcrever 'itxng, City of Vtrk Guardian OPINION RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community N ew spapers Association ^ 7* j Canadian Community N ew spapers Association Suburban N ew spapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: YMCA j J s tr . r U i> U}^>t7ep E Strategies for I J P f* C N A XT ·A IVIL L (I LCOME^fr M ALn 7 A.GON L T D . .B R % th e V j LSince 1930 -- ONT-f BUTTERFLY ------------------------J 't | J^thena JiNqlt BeII FtNd 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 SK 0 (the iJAward QakviHe&Awatds FOR BUSIN ESS EXCELLENCE / ° r ^ > TV AUCTION of Oakvilfe E d it o r ia ls The right thing The unexpected death of a young person is a tragedy. But that horror is made even more disturbing when, as a parent, you believe that something could have been done to save that person. This pretty m uch sum s up the case o f the What Vanessa's parents, untimely death of 15-year-old Vanessa Young. Terence and Gloria, Here was a teenager, full of life and in good didn' t know, was general health except for a digestive condition that that the same drug their \ saw her taking the drug Prepulsid (or Propulsid in daughter had been the U.S.). Like most medications, Prepulsid comes with taking, was a common the usual warnings about who shouldn't take the factor in 80 deaths. drug and the possible side-effects. Vanessa had been using the drug for more than one year and according to her parents, had never had any noticeable side-effects from taking Prepulsid. But all that changed when Vanessa rose from her family room couch and dropped to the floor in what was later determined to be cardiac arrest. There was no history of a heart condition, not even a minor one. Attempts to revive her failed and she died at the McMaster University Medical Centre in Hamilton. What Vanessa's parents, Terence and Gloria, didn't know, was that the same drug their daughter had been taking was a common factor in 80 deaths. Drug companies, like Janssen Pharmaceuticals who make Prepulsid, spend millions of dollars on research in a kind of medical lottery, hoping they will come up with a drug that can treat illnesses or conditions suffered by people in sizeable numbers. They hit the jackpot with Propulsid. Sales of the drug accounted for $950 million in worldwide revenue for the company and that's not small change. So now Janssen says they're going to be taking the drug off U.S. shelves by July but as of yesterday, still have no plans to withdraw it from the Canadian market. This simply make no sense from any perspective. Janssen has admitted to problems with the drug, yet both they and U.S. and Canadian regulatory agencies won't act immediately. Why not? The risk of having another person die needlessly should prompt action...now. L e t t e r s t o t h e E d it o r The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 No end in sight to tax merry-go-round I recently went into a showroom to purchase a small car to replace an aging station wagon which has become a sinkhole for money. After discussing and settling a sell price, the cheque to close the deal had to be 26% more than the post ed price! In the details there was a temporary "Air Conditioner" Excise Tax of $100 originally imposed by the federal government in the 70's which was never removed. There is also another provincial "Gas (guzzler)" Tax of $75 (this is being applied to a tiny four-cylinder model) which has been placed on all new cars to dis courage us from burning gas. The insult to injury and intelligence is that these taxes are both subject to GST & PST! When will we have to pay GST & PST on our income tax? These governments are insulting our intelli gence! Call or write your MP & MPP and tell them to stop insulting your intelligence, and that enough is enough! W. Dunlop L e tte r o f th e W e e k S ig n s s h o u ld s h o w c h e m ic a l-fre e la w n s Cancer is a devastating disease and is becoming epi demic. Too many chemicals are being used today, and now that Spring is here, the lawn spraying will start. Are people afraid to have a week or dandelion grow on their lawns? Where is all the respect for people and their children growing up in this world? They have the right to grow up in a clean environment, free from chemicals and if chemi cals are not used, then why are signs put everywhere warn ing people about the spraying on the lawns? People and children should be able to walk along a sidew alk and know they are passing law ns that are untouched by chemicals the way nature intended them to grow. If a law can be passed about dogs dirtying lawns, then a law about lawn spraying should be passed too. We have to try and stop the spread of cancer because it is becoming an epidemic and lawn spraying may be a contributing factor. V. Carley Senator wants Bill of Rights for Air Canada passengers M onopolies tend to translate in to up p ity se rv ic e p ro v id e rs. A n y b o d y o v e r th e age o f 25 remembers how haughty old Ma Bell was. Today, Bell Canada is ever so solicitous to its customers. Funny how com petition (or lack of it) can lead to such profound personality changes within corpo rations. T ra n s p o rt M in is te r D av id C ollenette prom ises that he will come up with a variety o f m ea sures to ensure that the new Air C a n a d a m o n o p o ly g iv e s o u r c o u n try 's air p assen g ers a fair d e a l. H ow a b o u t an A ir Travellers' Bill of Rights? Now th a t A ir C an ad a has acc e ss to earnings from Canadian Airlines' lucrative routes to the Pacific, I th in k A ir C a n a d a sh o u ld be forced to put some of its money where its mouth is when it comes to customer service. N one o f these rights, by the way, should induce Air Canada to neglect passengers' safety. Be it resolved that: 1. A ll p a sse n g e rs fly in g on C anadian-based airlines have a right to fly in safe aircraft, meet ing the h ig h e s t s ta n d a rd s o f design and maintenance, as well as courteous service from staff. 2. All Canadian-based airlines be obliged to provide custom er inform ation on the m ost direct routing and the least-expensive fares available, even when those routes and fares are not their own. 3. All Canadian-based airlines provide passengers with informa tion on optim al, acceptable and unacceptable levels of air circula tion. 4. W ith the exception o f the ta lle s t one p er c e n t o f the C anadian population (say, any body over 6'6"), all passengers be provided with seating where the seat of the passenger in front of them does not touch their knees, even when reclined. 5. Custom ers will be served m eals that are hygienic, n u tri tious, and even tasty, and airlines must provide special meals for passengers with special dietary needs (with reasonable, pre-flight notice). Flights should be required to provide a meal when departing betw een 6-9 a.m ., 11 a.m . - 2 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. 6. C heck-in time not extend beyond 20 minutes after the pas senger joins the check-in queue. Anything longer entitles the pas senger to a 20% refund on the cost of his or her ticket. 7. Checked baggage that is not returned to the customer with 30 minutes of arrival at destination entitle passengers to an immedi ate $100 payment, with an addi tional $300 payment if the lug gage is not in the p a sse n g e r's hands within three hours, etc. 8. D elayed flight departures require that the airline pay a 10% cash refund for every half-hour that the flight is delayed. 9. F lig h ts c a n c elled w ithin eight hours of scheduled depar ture result in a free flight to the customer's destination on the next available flight on any airline. A passenger bumped from an over booked flight would be similarly entitled, with an additional cash payment of $300. 10. For safety purposes, the ratio of flight attendants to pas sengers must never exceed 40 to 1 (it was recently raised to 50 to 1). 11. Any flight not offering all of the above features would have to be clearly designated as "no frills" or "cut rate". I think most Canadians would certainly be darned proud -- and happy -- to fly under the circum stances outlined above. Additional information can be fo u n d at http://sen.parl.gc.ca/ckenny. Senator Colin Kenny R em em bering brave young m en Please can any of your readers help me. I am collecting and com piling a memorial book to the 315 airmen killed from our wartime v illa g e a irfie ld 22 O .T.U W ellesbourne Mountford -- 214 o f the airmen were Canadians. I would like to get photos of all the airmen who lost their lives here. Can any relativ es o f these two On March 18th, 2000, my sis ters and I dedicated a park bench to our M om in D ingle Park at the base o f T ra fa lg a r R oad on the occasion of her 83rd birthday. Our M om has been m aking com m u nion with this bench to capture the sunrise for the last 25 years of her 53 years in the Town of Oakville. We had always thought we would investigate the memorialization of this bench after she passed away. We are so th an k fu l th at we decided to dedicate the bench dur ing her lifetime, while she, we, and so many others could appreciate it. The Town o f O akville has a RCAF men help me with photos? F /S g t. John K em p from O akville; F/Sgt. E rnest M ittel from Clinton. The memorial book is kept in the museum in the old airfield. We m ust never fo rget these brave young men. Jo h n Pratley Construction chaos leads to tickets Re: Construction in Upper Glen Abbey How Much Longer Is This Going To Last!!!! We moved into the West Oak Trails area of Upper Glen Abbey about five-and-a-half years ago and enjoyed it very much until all sorts of re-zoning and construction started in the area. We have been existing in a living hell of dust, dirt and debris from all the land-grading and construction since the spring of 1995. The latest is a new development of townhomes going in at the comer of Fourth Line and West Oak Trails Boulevard. The red clay mud is unbelievable... they have to scrape it up with front-end loaders it is so thick. If the residents park in our own complex, we get tickets from the Town but the construction equipment parks on both sides of Westview Terrace with absolute impunity. Do You Think This Is Fair?? My son from Burlington parked in our complex, so he could run my wife back and forth to Hamilton General Hospital when I had open heart surgery in late January. He got ticketed for parking on private property and was a legitimate visitor!! Yet, we have the Italian Cycling Club parking one and sometimes two oversize vans here most of the summer. It seems you have to be "someone" to keep from getting tickets. This has got to the point that my family and I are about to say Goodbye to the dusty dirty Town of Oakville and with re zoning occurring north of us, we see no end in sight. Fred Burton & Family Gift o f park bench worth considering wonderful program for memorial benches and trees throughout the Town. Bob P erk in s, H eather Turenne, Leo O stner and other Parks staff provided us with exem plary service and support which m ade the p re se n tatio n o f this bench dedication to our M other one of the most special moments of our lives. We encourage you to pursue this wonderful `gift' opportunity. Your rewards will be without com pare. Many thanks to the Town Parks & Recreation staff. Gail Brearley P u d by Steve Nease LABRADOR Funds will help children read Oakville Place Mall is to be commended for their commu nity spirit in sponsoring the recent Reading Room raffle which raised over $6,800 for Friends of the Library. The mall donated a fabulous prize-a fully-loaded computer system and related fumishings-valued at $5,000. as well as providing a venue and paying for all advertising, promotion and tickets. The Friends will use the proceeds toward the purchase of books for mini-libraries which are being established in two community parent-child.centres as part of the library's exciting new `Reach Out and Read' program for pre-school children. Special thanks to Carol Hyams and her staff for their efforts on our behalf. The Friends look forward to continuing this valuable community partnership with Oakville Place Barbara Dubrule Chair, Friends o f the Library RETRIEVER-· to te ®r 1 \ * r At 6 m BUT WEte STILL' WORKIN'OMTHE ; RETRIEVER'