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6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday October 13, 2000 T h e Oakville B eaver Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver, Associate Publisher Norman Alexander, Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crozier, Circulation Director Ten C a sa s, Office Manager Mark Dills, Production Manager Riziero Vertolli, Photography Director Metrobnd Printing. Pubfchng & Distributing L td . includes: Afax/Pickenng News Advertiser. Alston Herald/Couner. Arthir Enterprise News. Barrie Ad/ance. Barry's Bay This W e e k Boton Enterprise, Brampton Guardan, B u rlin g to n P o s t. B u rlin gto n S h o p p in g N e w s . C ity Parent. Coingwood/Wasaga Connection. East York Mrcor. Erin AdvocatB'Courtry R o u te s . E to b ic o k e G u a rd ia n . F la m b o ro u g h P o s t. G e o rg e to w n hdependent/Arton Free Press. Harriston Revew, Hurone Busness Tm es. Kingston T h e W eek. Lindsay T h e Week. Markham Ecnom et & Sun. M kJand/Penetanguehine M rro r, Milton Canadian Cham pion. Milton S h o p p in g N ew s. M ississauga Business Tim es. M e s e s a u g a N ews. Napanee Gurte. Nassagaweya News. N ew m a rk e t Aurora Era-Banner. N orthum berland N e w s. N orth Yo rk Mirror. O a kvile Beaver. Oakvile S h o p p in g N e w s . O ld tim e rs H o c k e y N e w s . Orillia T o d a y . OshawaAMvtby/CJanngton Port Perry T h e Week. Owen Sound Tnbune, Palmerston Observer. Peterborough T h e Week. P e t on County Guide, R ic h m o n d H ill/Thornhill/V aughan Liberal. S c a rb o ro u g h M irror. SlouffvieAJxbndge Tribune. Forever Yo u n g City o< York Guardan THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: | oakville galleries | » N e w s p a p e rs of A m e ric a 467 Speers Rd., Oakville O nt L6K3S4 (905) 846-3824 Fax: 337-5567 M 9t ftb k r M IIk E d ito r ia ls Drop in the bucket As tax-paying Ontarians, w e're supposed to be pleased with the news that w e're going to receive a $200. cheque in the mail via the Ontario Taxpayer Dividend and Premier Mike Harris. F o r m an y p e o p le , th e $ 2 0 0 . w ill be The $200 cheque for regarded as a w indfall and th ey 'll spend it accordingly, thus boosting the economy and Ontario taxpayers may th e c o ffe rs o f th e P ro v in c e th ro u g h its be in the mail but the Provincial Sales Tax. interest on the B ut th e c h e q u e is re a lly ju s t a p u b lic Province' s debt relations project designed to m ollify those continues to build voters who have seen a dramatic deterioration in ju s t about every service touched by the government. If you take the money on this basis, it's a public relations hit. But there's another side. Despite a good economy, the Province is still hugely in debt and until that albatross is lifted from the taxp ay ers' shoulders, or w allets, the rebate cheque is just a chimera and nothing more. On a strictly cash basis, The Taxpayer Dividend will return $ 1 billion to over five million taxpayers. But add on the bureaucracy involved, postage and handling etc. and you get a real idea of the total costs involved. Think o f the kind o f im pact that m oney could have on a variety of projects and services that have been gutted by the Harris government. Think of the opportunities that could have been put in place for good, low-cost housing, new schools, improved infrastructure like water and sewage plants. But perhaps w e're being too harsh on Mr. Harris and friends. Perhaps they feel this is their vision of being true altruists. As the premier put it: "Now that w e've balanced the budget, it's time to give something back to the ta x p a y e rs. A fte r all, g o v e rn m e n t m ust ndver fo rg et th at it's the taxpayers' money." We might suggest to Mr. Harris that if he wants to do something truly meaningful for the Ontario taxpayer, he might slash a per-centage point or two off the PST. Now that would be a Real Taxpayer Dividend. Pages o f th e P ast C A S s e t u p s h o p in O a k v i l l e 5 0 Y e a rs A g o W orking with the energy o f beavers, more than a dozen boy m em bers o f O akville and D is tric t H u m an e S o c ie ty 's ju n io r b ra n c h h a v e b e e n d ig g in g e x c a v a tio n s fo r th e concrete footings o f the new Hum ane Society sh e lte r.T h e c o n c re te w ill be po u red som e tim e this week according to H erbert M erry, d ir e c to r o f th e ju n io r b ra n c h . A lo ad o f cem ent blocks is already on the ground, and the structure should be finished some tim e in N ovem ber. The new shelter, w hich w ill be one storey in height, will contain an animal room, a kitchen, office and garage. The site is north o f the east end o f M aple A ve., 300 feet south o f the CNR tracks. -O a k v ille - T r a fa lg a r J o u r n a l, O ct. 12. 1950 3 0 Y e a rs A g o The Halton C hildren's Aid Society is now installed in O akville, but is not experiencing A great rush of business. D ir e c to r D r. G. K. A s q u ith sa id W ednesday that the society opened an office at 226 South Service Rd. in A ugust, with a staff o f nine people. H ow ever he said, "we are gettin g about th e sa m e n u m b e r o f c a lls fro m O a k v ille people that we always have." He predicted that more and more calls will c o m e in as th e c o m m u n ity a c c e p ts th e organization. "W e found when we opened an office in B urlington th at it took som e m onths before we w e re r e a lly a c c e p te d by th e tow nspeople," A squith said. -D aily Journal Record, Oct. 13, 1970 10 Y e a rs A g o A January court date has been set to hear c h a r g e s th a t th e O a k v ille P e tr o - C a n a d a refinery exceeded a provincial low sm og/gas regulation on two days in A ugust 1989. M inistry o f E nvironm ent O akville branch m anager John Budz confirm ed Tuesday that P e tro -C a n a d a w as c h a rg e d la s t w eek fo r v io la tin g th e p r o v in c e 's L o w S m o g /G a s R egulation -- which was ju st passed in 1989 -- in connection with incidents that occurred on Aug. 30 and 3 ls t, 1989. T he B ro n te R e fin e ry fa c e s tw o c o u n ts u n d e r S e c tio n l o f th e E n v ir o n m e n ta l P r o te c tio n A c t. T h e c h a r g e s c a r r y a m axim um $25,000 fine for the first offence and $50,000 for subsequent convictions. -O akville B eaver Oct. 10, 1990 OQQ Taken from the archives of the Oakville Beaver including stories from The Oakville Record-Star, The O akville- Trafalgar Journal, the Oakville Journal Record and the Oakville Beaver. ...a happy ending to a nasty situation...a traffic mishap took place Friday in Milton on 15 Side Road and following the collision an 8-month-old female black Lab puppy fled one of the vehicles...it was in training at the Lions Club Guide Dog centre on Rebecca Street in Oakville... `Jordy', w e're pleased to report was found by its adoptive family and had no injuries except that she was very tired.... Q ...anyone suffering from panic attacks and, or anxiety disorders, knows that these conditions are no laughing matter...but ironically, given the nature of these conditions, it m akes seeking help all the more challenging...for exam ple, the H alton R egion branch o f the C anadian M ental H ealth Association is holding a series o f educational and support programs in Burlington, beginning on Oct. 17th....since some o f those affected with anxiety can fear driving on the highway, getting to Burlington could be interesting....anyone interested or knowing someone who might benefit from these sessions can call 693-4270... COG ...while many pharmaceutical companies are bailing out of the consumer products side of their businesses, SmithKline Beecham (SB) is heading in the o p p o s ite d ir e c tio n ....O a k v ille , as you know , is the C an ad ian headquarters for the huge England-based company...the parent firm said this week it's buying Block Drug Co. for $1.2 billion (U.S.) primarily for its Polident denture cleaner and Sensodyne toothpaste lines...SB makes Aquafresh toothpaste among a host of other consumer products that make up one third of its total sales...SB's plans to merge with fellow drug maker Glaxo Wellcome PLC are continuing.... Psssssst... is a compendium o f observations around Oakville and w e're open to contributions from the public at large too. Just fa x us at 337-5567 attention to Pssssssssssst...