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Ian Oliver Publisher Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Norman Alexander Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager Ian Oliver Publisher Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Norman Alexander Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager The Oakville Beaver, published every Sunday, Wednesdua’xsand Friday, at 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, is one of the Metroland Printing, Publishing Di i Lid. group of suburban newspapers which includes: Ajaxâ€"Pickering News Advertiser, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Col'ngaood Connection, Etobicoke Guardian, lown I Acton Free Press, Kingston This Week, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist and Sun, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Miton Canadian Champion, Mississauga News, Newmarketâ€"Aurora Eraâ€"Banner, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby This Week, Peterborough This Week, Richmond HilV Thomhil/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror. All material published in the Oakville Beaver is protected by copy%m reproduction in whole or in part of this material is strictly forbidden witl the consent of the publisher. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of the advertising space occu ied 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 calegorize and reject advertising. in the event of typographical error, advertising goods or services at the wrong price, goods or services ma ing is merely an offer to sell and may be withdrawn at any time. noon, when the first Windstar miniâ€"van rolled off the Ford Canada auto assembly line. When outgoing Ford Canada president Jim O‘Connor drove the first Windstar off the line, it marked a reâ€"birth of sorts for the Oakville facility. After the company decided to withdraw the Ford Topaz and Tempos from production here, a strong lobbying campaign was launched to find a replacement vehlcle Deu * s e qo Oakville has had a very positive start to the business year Thursday afterâ€" Ford spent $1.5â€"billion in designing and testing the Windstar and was looking for a North American plant to build the vehicle. The company chose the Oakville car assembly operation, complete with a new highâ€"tech paint line and workforce eager to please. l EmtE . w5 L ce otigne Oakville now builds all the Windstars which were conceived to do battle against the Chrysler miniâ€"vans that have led the market segment for years. But Ford officials and automotive writers alike agree that the Windstar is going to shakeâ€"up the miniâ€"van market. There have been spinâ€"off effects from the Windstar production and these will continue as the plant gears up its production schedule 10 1,200 units a day. Lear Seating set up shop in town to supply the van and Polywheels, chose to stay in Oakville instead of heading to the U.S., thanks in part to a Ford Windstar parts contract. The Windstar vehicle launch is good news for the local and provincial economy and good news for Ford employees who are now guaranteed job stability into the 21st century. Change the rules Bhaduria is complete. The controversial MP, who sent poison pen letters to the Toronto Board of Education saying they were racist, has now been found out in a bieger scam. Te fall from grace of Markhamâ€"Whitchurchâ€"Stouffville Liberal MP Jag It now seems Bhaduria misrepresented a LL.B. (INT.) law degree designation that always followed his signature, along with M.Sc., and M.Admin. The MP also said he was a graduate of universities of Toronto, Delhi and London. In the case of London, that university has no records of his graduation, only that he attended for two years. And in the case of his law degree, there is no such designation and Bhaduria could explain it away only by saying that INT meant ‘interim‘ because he had not completed a law degree but might some day. Thankfully, he has resigned from the Liberal caucus but it makes us appreciate yet another plamk in the Reform Party‘s platformâ€"that MPs could be recalled by the voters if caught in damning situations. Under current laws, Bhaduria can continue to sit as an MP until the current government goes to the polls and that could be five years. All the while he will take taxpayers‘ money. If Prime Minister Jean Chretien wants integrity in government, instituting a recall clause would be a good first step. UA Good news 467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K 354 845â€"3824 Fax: 845â€"3085 Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 In America, only the sucâ€" cessful writer is important. In France, all writers are important. In England, no writer is important. In Australia, you have to explain what a writer is. nd in Canada? What of the Great White Frozen £ B. Attic? What‘s it like to be a professional writer in Canada? Well, as a scribbler who‘s kept the bailiffs at bay for 20â€" odd years wielding nothing more lethal than a singeâ€"action Olivetti, I‘d have to say Canadian writers fall someâ€" where between the American and Australian extremes. Which is to say that successful writers (Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies, Alice Munro, Modecai Richler) don‘t exactly have to take in laundry to make ends meet. On the other hand, they can still pilot their own grocery cart down at the local supermarâ€" ket without worrying about being mobbed by groupies in the frozen food section. People have a lot of misconâ€" ceptions about the writing busiâ€" ness. The biggest delusion is that writing for a living will make you rich. Not likely. If you envision a life of wallowing in megabucks in the back seat of a chauffeurâ€"driven stretch limo, best you try some other line of work â€" like mugging or high seas piracy or criminal law. Most writers in Canada are lucky to keep their noses above the poverty line. Another major misconcepâ€" tion about writing is that it is Being a Canadian author can be humbling experience â€"Geoffrey Cotterell somehow easy, romantic, and fun. It is to whimper ruefully. There‘s nothing fun or romantic about sitting down in front of a blank piece of paper or a vacant computer screen day after day. And easy? It only looks that way when it‘s done well. If you ever want to have your nose rearranged without benefit of plastic surgery, get yourself introduced to a writer and say, "Yeah, but what to you REALâ€" LY do for a living?" A brain surgeon once corâ€" nered Margaret Laurence at a literary cocktail party and trumâ€" peted. "So you‘re an author! That‘s great! You know, when I retire from medicine, I‘m going to be an author!" Laurence looked at him through those hooded eyes, took a drag on her everâ€"present cigarette and replied softly, "Fascinating. And when I retire, I plan to take up brain surgery." Now, don‘t misunderstand me â€" I don‘t want to make writâ€" ing sound like the root canal of career choices. It‘s not. The only real dangers in this line of work are nasty critics, unreaâ€" sonable editors, and the odd paper cut. Oh, yes...and there is the ego problem. It doesn‘t happen often, but once in a while your typical Canadian author will become somewhat...full of himself. Put on airs. Act like he or she is actually important. Happened to me not long ago. I‘d just published my fifth book and decided that, dammit, real writers don‘t go around in Tâ€"shirts, jeans, and baseball caps. Chap in my position ought to look more...well, authorly. So I went out and bought a tweed jacket complete with side vents and suede elbow patches. I felt like Pierre Berton by way of Robertson Davies with a touch of Farley Mowat in my new threads. On an impulse, I sashayed into a bookstore, briskly rapped the bell, and asked the startled clerk if they carried "That new book by Black". "Who?" the clerk asked blankly. "Black, Arthur Black. Clever fellow. Probably in your Canadiana section. Or, perhaps, under World Humor..." The clerk had never heard of him (me). And neither had his computer. "This is intolerable!" I blusâ€" tered. "The man has written five books. Surely, a bookstore this large would have at least one of them!" The clerk searched and searched. And finally, deep in the second hand racks, just beside the Remainders Bin, he came up with one dogâ€"eared, bookworm riddled copy of my first book, Basic Black. My book had been filed, along with books by Dick Gregory, H. Rap Brown, a biogâ€" raphy of Mohammed Ali, and the collected speeches of Martin Luther King, under ‘Black Revolutionary Studies‘.