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Fall in love with Downtown Oakville all over again... ART IN THE HEART: SHOP WITH YOUR SENSES Weekends in February Participating Downtown Oakville boutiques will offer up a show of artists, music, in-store events and special promotions to delight your senses. ART IN THE HEART: GALLERY TASTE & TOURS Saturday, February 13th Participating Downtown Oakville galleries open their doors to welcome you in from the cold with chocolates, confections and fine wines. Participating Galleries: Abbozzo Gallery, Native Art Gallery, Towne Square Gallery, Win Henstock Gallery festivities 5:00 until 8:00pm for tour times A TASTE OF DOWNTOWN OAKVILLE February 15th to February 28th The following restaurants will be offering special prix fixe menus: 3Ss Steak Seafood & Song, Bite Me Twice, Cafe Galleria, Colossus Greek Tavern, Corks, The Crepe Kitchen, Eco Chefs, The Griffin House, Jam Martini & Wine Bar, Jonathans, Olivers Restaurant, Paradiso, Prime Time Sports Bar, Ristorante Julia, Rude Native, Seasons For more information, please visit www.oakvilledowntown.com Quality Craftsmanship Innovative Designs Professional Service & Installation 10 Year Warranty Visit Our SHOWROOM 905-689-7877 www.hallmarkkitchens.ca 23 INNOVATION DRIVE (Clappisons Corners) WATERDOWN HW Y. # 6 HWY. #5 WATERDOWN N S EW HALLMARK KITCHENSSO UT H DR . 9 W ed n esd ay, Feb ru ary 10, 2010 O A K V ILLE B E A V E R w w w .o a k v ille b e a v e r.co m of Responsible Government. Unsuccessful minorities acted as though they had been given a majority when most Canadians had actually voted for the other parties. In doing so, they cheapened our country's democratic process for their own gain. As for the Senate, I would certainly agree that it is an unelected, undemocratic institution. However, I fail to see how arbi- trarily appointing five more senators will change this. Of the 20 senators Stephen Harper has so far appointed, 15 of those were members of his own party. What guarantee do Canadians have that these new senators will not simply be Conservative loyalists, no different than the Liberal loyalists you complain of? Turning to your criticism of the rally, I assume your allegation that this was not a grassroots protest is based on the fact that NDP members were involved in organizing it. I never attempted to hide my member- ship in the NDP, as I felt that disclosure was a matter of integrity. As far as this having been the product of some sort of Liberal- NDP coalition, all I can say is that this is news to me. Great effort was made to stress that this was a non-partisan event. We even had for- mer Conservative supporters attend. I do not think that politics in Canada is quite as cynical as you make it out to be. I organized this rally because I care about our country's democracy, and it was similar concerns that brought 200 people to Kerr Street on that cold day. What surprises me most is your com- plaint of not having been invited. At your public consultation on the previ- ous Wednesday, one of our organizers per- sonally handed you a flyer and invited you to attend. Had you attended, I would have person- ally made sure you were given time to speak. I don't believe in simply shutting out people with different opinions. Disagreement, after all, is the foundation of democracy. In that light, I would like to announce that plans are in the works for a follow-up event to Saturday's rally. Personally, I would like to see this take the form of a public forum on democracy in Canada. In order to ensure a balanced per- spective, I will make sure to personally deliver an invitation to your office. JAMES EDE, OAKVILLE CAPP, OAKVILLE NDP Reader responds to guest column n Continued from page 6 Speak up! You can comment on any story in todays Oakville Beaver at oakvillebeaver.com. Antoni Cimolino, general director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival will speak to the Canadian Club of Halton Peel on Thursday, Feb. 18. The dinner meeting will be at the Oakville Conference Centre at Bronte and Wyecroft roads. Cimolino will speak on Stratford 2010 The Plays and The Players. The Stratford Shakespeare Festival opened its first season in 1953, under a giant canvas tent, presenting Richard III and Alls Well That Ends Well. Four years later, five plays were performed in the new Festival Theatre, which was built surrounding the original stage. Now the festival produces a dozen plays in four theatres with more than 1,000 employ- ees and an annual budget of more than $50 million. A native of Sudbury, Antoni attended the- atre school at the University of Windsor before joining the Stratford Festival in 1988, playing prominent roles by his second sea- son. Registration and cash bar opens at 6 p.m., dinner is at 7 p.m. Cost is $30/members, $40/non-members and $15/students. For tickets, contact Barry Wylie at 905- 827-6302 or bwylie@globalserve.net. Stratford centre stage at Canadian Club