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2- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday October 11, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Dion visits Brown to give campaign boost in Oakville By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF He came and he saw, but it won't be revealed until Oct. 14 whether he conquered. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion passed through town Friday morning, spending just under an hour campaigning in downtown Oakville. He walked along the crowd of Liberal supporters, passersby and business owners that lined the north side of Lakeshore Road East, stopping to shake hands, pose for photos and even pet a dog or two. Oakville Liberal candidate and incumbent Bonnie Brown stuck by Dion's side, as the pair, crowded in by a herd of anxious photographers, reporters and cameramen, slowly worked their way down the one block between Allan and Reynolds streets. Their first stop was the bustling Sunnyside Grill, where Dion met diners and staff. Manager Peter Parissi said it was a unique experience. "I thought it was a good opportunity for us and I'd like to meet both leaders," said Parissi, who explained as a businessman, he LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER DOWNTOWN VISIT: Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, accompanied by Oakville canddiate Bonnie Brown, greets well-wishers in downtown Oakville Friday morning. keeps his political allegiance private. "We've see it in person." had visitors come in before, but nobody like Parissi said he took a liking to Dion. this with an entourage like that. You see it "I think he has been portrayed unfairly on television, but it is more interesting to in the attack ads," he said. "He seems like a very caring gentleman." Dion's next stop was Croissant Express, where owner Omid Shamlou presented the prime minister hopeful with a box of 24 chocolate croissants. Shamlou said he has been following the election coverage and that he enjoyed meeting Dion. "Chocolate croissants are our specialty and I wanted to give him a taste of Oakville -- I'm sure they are better than the croissants in Montreal," said Shamlou, who added that he is generally a Liberal supporter. "It was a very good experience. It was nice to see him and he looked much taller than he looks on TV. " The croissants were accompanied with a question on what the Liberals would do to relieve taxes, especially for small businesses. "He said, `For sure we are going to cut the taxes and we have something in our package to cut taxes for small business,' but he didn't go into specifics," said Shamlou. The decision to welcome Dion was an easy one for Hasnain Moledina, who said he is a Liberal supporter. Moledina is the owner of Timothy's World Coffee, where Dion served coffee and greeted supporters and customers on the patio. "I was overwhelmed by the crowd and the amount of people," Moledina said. While some local business owners were thrilled with the attention, those looking for insight into what Dion would do for Oakville may have been disappointed. He did not give a speech and did not speak to reporters. When asked one-on-one by The Oakville Beaver what he would like to say to Oakville voters, Dion declined to comment. "I guess we will have a scrum later, thank you very much," he said. A scrum never happened, as Dion was soon whisked away by staff onto his awaiting bus. See Brown page 3 Get Behind The Wheel And Learn How To DriveWise School is back in session, fall is here and is a really good time to learn how to drive. For both parents and teens this new phase of life can be a double edge sword, full of new found freedom as well as worries. New drivers make up a small percentage of motorists on the road, but because of their lack of experience, they're the group that's involved in the most collisions. But what if novice drivers could get experience before they ever get behind the wheel? Simulators are used to train astronauts, pilots and golf pros, why not teen drivers? DriveWise in Oakville, which formerly operated as a franchise of the well known branded driver training program in Canada, is making it possible for its student drivers to hop in to the virtual drivers seat of a fully interactive simulated car. The simulator can be programmed to conjure up any number of driving scenarios, from g , extreme weather to four legged hazards. "It's a fact, deer do jump out at you. How do you ever train for that in vehicle?" said Nancy Danter, Director of Business Development for DriveWise. "We use to set up the pylons and the instructor would verbally walk them through it, but it didn't have a context that the students could really understand. If you do those emergency maneuvers in the simulator first, with actual scenarios that could occur in real life, then they have a greater understanding of how that maneuver can be used to save their life." "With the simulator, we can teach night driving at 10 o'clock in the morning or we can program blizzard, black ice, fog or hail, all which prepare you for actual real life driving conditions." Studies have shown that students trained on driving simulators are less likely to be involved in a collision than those trained solely by traditional methods. During their 25 hours of in-class instruction, DriveWise includes 6 hours of virtual reality simulation driving. Students will practice how to avoid practically any life-threatening situation they can experience on the road and cover some important fundamentals that otherwise couldn't be taught. For Course Information: 905-845-7200 (905) 875-0480 www.drivewiseoakville.com info@drivewiseoakville.com Upcoming Courses Filling Up Fast! October 18, 19, 25, 26 (two weekends) 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.