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Guest ColumnistThe Oakville Beaver467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742The 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 theTime for a budgetcondition 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 chargedfor, 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 theOakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.NEIL OLIVERVice-President and Group Publisher,MARK DILLSDirector of Production Ontario can affordMetroland WestMANUEL GARCIAProduction ManagerDAVIDHARVEYRegional General ManagerCHARLENE HALLDirector of DistributionTed Chudleigh, Halton MPPJILL DAVISEditor in ChiefSARAH MCSWEENEYCirc. ManagerROD JERREDManaging EditorWEBSITE oakvillebeaver.comts almost budget time in Ontario. Traditionally pre-DANIELBAIRDAdvertising DirectorThesented in March, just before the fiscal year end of March Oakville Beaver is a division ofTed ChudleighRIZIERO VERTOLLIPhotography DirectorI31, the Ontario budget for several years has been glow-SANDY PAREBusiness Managering deep red.For these years Ontario has sported deficits of $18.3 billion, that is, the govern-RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY:Ontario Community Canadian Community Suburban Newspapersment is borrowing nearly $20 billion each year to pay for all its obligations. That Newspapers AssociationNewspapers Associationof America$18.3 billion represents about 16 per cent of Ontarios $115 billion budget.THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR:That huge deficit is extraordinarily bad. Borrowed money has to be paid back. Essentially that money will come from future taxes and will restrict the choices of Ontario governments for years to come.United Way of OakvilleSince the Liberals have nearly doubled the annual budget from the $66 billion ATHENAbudgeted by the PCs in 2003, I believe there are innumerable places in which to Awardscale back the spending.And it must be done. With taxes already high in Ontario thanks to the HST and other tax and user fee increases, and future taxes guaranteed to rise, businesses will leave Ontario taking with them jobs and prosperity.Premier Dalton McGuinty is telling anyone who will listen that the problem is due to the global recession. He said that in Oakville recently. However, anyone lis-tening to Premier McGuinty for the past eight years knows he is challenged by the truth.The Liberals have had one balanced budget since 2003. The truth is Ontario was seeing the effects of Liberal deficits long before the global recession piled on. Ontario lost 228,000 manufacturing jobs prior to the 2008 global financial melt-down. The truth is Ontario was last in economic growth among Canadian prov-inces for two years before the global recession. The truth is Ontario had become a have-not province and still receives equalization payments from the federal govern-ment.Essentially the McGuinty Liberal government is foisting high taxes on future Ontarians, your children and grandchildren, so people today can live high on the hog.People today benefit from this largess; people tomorrow can pay for it and likely accept a much lower standard of living because of the financial burden they will carry.Balancing the budget should be the No. 1 priority of any serious, prudent and responsible government. Anything else is just an attempt to buy votes.The upcoming budget is an important test of the McGuinty government, one ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVERthey have failed repeatedly.STAMP OF APPROVAL:James McKenzie holds up one of his stamps for sale at the Oakville Stamp Club'sFailure this time will contribute to a reduced standard of living for your children annual Stamp Show at St. Paul's United Church on Saturday.and a continued exodus of jobs from Ontario.Parenting on a pedestal and other reasons for unhappinessccording to a recent study which is actually a compre-in lab testing, positive moods have beentough the job is, and of how much sacrifice (of time, energy,hensive study of 160 other, ah, studies there exists found to reduce stress, increase immunemoney) parenting demands.Aclear and compelling evidence that being happy can function, and help the heart recoverAgain, it totally depends on how you define happiness.actually help you live healthier and longer.from all types of exertion. Hence theWould you say that you were happy at 3 a.m. when your colickyIn contemporary society, happiness has become the holy better health. And longer life.infant was screaming in your ear for the third straight hour?grail. Our oftentimes fanatical and sometimes self-absorbed So who is happy? And who is not?Probably not. But such moments are part of your life-tapestry,pursuit of so-called happiness is what props up the billion-Well, a study in Psychology Sciencepart of what makes you who you are, and they have the poten-dollar self-help industry well, that and bestselling bibles on suggests that parents in this day and agetial to contribute more to your overall happiness than youhow to be skinny as a rake, or tomes on how to trick the aging are unhappy. Although most parentscould possibly imagine at the time.Andy Juniperprocess and remain forever young. Yeah, right.would typically tell you (and are, in fact,Finally, why is it we feel this need to be happy (or whateverTrouble is, happiness can be as elusive as a decent answer to expected to say) that their children arewe perceive happiness to be) all the time? Its unnatural. Asthe question: What is happiness? Happiness is a pretty personal a font of fulfillment and the hub of all happiness, the study sug-human beings, were not meant to be happy 24/7. Theresand subjective thing; it can be different things to different gests that moms and dads arent half as happy as theyre mak-beauty depth in all our emotions and moods. Great works of artpeople. However, its fairly safe to say: if your twisted perception ing out to be.are oftentimes created in fits of despair. And some of these greatof happiness entails you walking around all day, every day with Truth of the matter, according to Steven Mock, an assistantworks make me, ah, happy.a big, goofy grin on your face, pleasantly oblivious to all thats professor at the University of Waterloo, and one of the studysPersonally, there are times when Im completely happygoing on around you, then chances are youre never going to co-authors: The well-being literature shows that during thebeing unhappy. Perfectly productive. Content. Altogetherfind true happiness.years people are parenting (they) tend to report lower life satis-unhappy.In the aforementioned study, happiness was equated simply faction and lower levels of satisfaction. Why? The report says Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com,with having a positive outlook, being upbeat and engaged, and there is a cultural idealization call it parenting put on afound on Facebook http://www.facebook.com, or followed atenjoying life. All of which makes sense when you consider that pedestal that overlooks the underlying reality of just howwww.twitter.com/thesportjesters.www.insideHALTON.com OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, March 17, 2011 6