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Seme fourlaw nm overn ow !C a lltod ay BEAT THE RUSH [ I : 3 ' J ; ' 2:44 > 8 2 2 4 2 1 1 A Metroland Publication Vol. 38 No. 11 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26 ,2 0 0 0 52 Pages 75 C ents (plus GST) S y l A p p s j w o r k e r s in By Rod Jerred OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF lim b o London, Ont., all secure custody, and two other facilities, Project D A RE in South River and the Sault Ste. M arie Observation and Detention Centre. Currently, private operators run 99 o f the 104 young offender facilities in Ontario. Syl Apps, a secure custody centre for dangerous young offenders, currently houses about 72 youths and has a maxi m um capacity for 105. T he centre has 20 beds for youths with psychiatric disor ders. (See `Centre' page A3) Privatization means tough decisions have to be made / 7 Photo by Barrie Erskine ST. MILDRED'S EXPANSION: St. M ildred's-L ightbourn School Principal, Susan Both, show s o ff plans for an addition to the east O akville facility. But the sch o o l's grow th has not been w ithout its critics. S ee story, page A8. Provincial employees at the Syl Apps Youth Centre in Oakville have until Monday to decide whether they will continue working at the facility under a private operator for less money. With the Ontario government's Jan. 24th announcement that Syl Apps would be privatized, 211 unionized employees at the young offenders facility were given five working days to determine their future. That translates to Jan. 31st at 5 p.m. "I don't know how the government can call it reasonable with only five days to decide your life," said Vivian Van Wagner, president of OPSEU Local 213. `T h ere's a lot of fear and anxiety." The M inistry o f Com m unity and Social Services announced it would be transferring the operation o f Syl Apps and four other young offender facilities to a private service provider. The other facilities include the York Detention Centre in Toronto, M aurice H. Genest Detention Centre for Youth in Pow er plan t awaits final approvals By Norm Alexander OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Sheridan wants $1-m from Town College wants help in financing latest expansion By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Sheridan C ollege m ust now w ait until M onday to know w hether the Town will ante up $1 m illion to help finance its latest expansion. C oncerned about the precedent-setting nature of the request and the possible im pact on municipal finances, Council decided on M onday to w ait a w eek for staff to report back with m ore detailed inform a tion. A ccording to W ard 1 councillor K evin Flynn, it's not a m atter o f w hether the project is good or not but w hether it is som ething worth spending tax dollars on. C o u n cillo r K evin Flynn a n d K athy G ra h a m : to u g h d e c is io n to b e m a d e "A re we ready to make this kind o f involvem ent in this project?" he said. T he $1 million grant would go towards Sheridan's proposed Com m unication, Culture and Information Technology (CCIT) facility at its O akville Campus. The money - which represents about 6% o f the total $16.75 million cost o f the facility - would be spread out over five years starting in 2001. T his con tribution - subject to Sheridan receiving all necessary approvals - would be taken from the m unicipality's corporate capital reserve. (The $200,000 a year would am ount to less than 1% on the millrate.) The college has applied for fundings under the province's Super Build Grow th Fund, a new $10 bil lion initiative announced last October. The short tim e lines, however, did not sit well with councillors who m ade it clear they w ouldn't rush into anything. "I ju st need a little more help so I can explain to the people o f O akville why I did or did not support this," said Ward 2 councillor Kathy Graham , who also wants to know if there are any capital projects better served by the cash. A report prepared by Town M anager Harry (See `Program' page A4) IN S E A R C H O F T H E S IM P L E L IF E In a n a g e o f burnout from too m u c h str e ss a n d h ig h -sp e e d living, a m o ve m e n t is se e k in g an answer..... By Nancy Alexander SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Although our neighbours to the east have been aw are of it for some tim e, O akville residents are only tio w finding out about ptens for a huge electricity-generating facility, ju st across the M ississau g aO akville border. The natural-gas pow ered plant would be located on 35 acres o f vacant industrial land, ju st south of Royal W in d so r D rive, east o f W inston Churchill Boulevard. But w hile the project's planners are confident they'll win residents over to the schem e, som e southeast area hom e ow ners have already raised concerns about its physical, envi ronm ental and safety impact. Last m onth N ew York C itybased Sithe Inc., announced plans to invest $1 billion (U .S.) to devel op the 800-m egaw att facility and another in Bram pton. The M ississauga plant will have the capability to produce enough electricity to m eet the needs o f about 750,000 hom es and business es. The com pany has taken a very low key approach to the project since the site is in an industrially zoned section. W ith no real im pact on that city's residential com m uni ty, there has been little reaction there. (See `Plant1page A3) Photo by Peter J. Thom pson T h ere's nothing m agical about trying to live a sim pler life, says Yvonne M cA rthur, you ju st have to slow dow n and sm ell the roses. m . m. If Yvonne M cA rthur had her way, she'd scale down her worldly posses sions to a backpack and a bicycle. Granted, given the realities o f living and w orking in the GTA, she doesn't expect that to happen any time soon. But, the journey, so to speak, has begun. Yvonne, an Oakville resident, has becom e part o f a small but growing element in our society which is active ly striving to live a simpler, more pared-down lifestyle. It's a concept that may have seemed alien in the boom-tim e, consum er-dri ven 80's. But now, as more people begin to exam ine their stressed-out, over-w orked, debt-ridden lives, the "sim plicity m ovem ent" is gaining momentum. For M cA rthur, the life changes began in 1992 when a sudden "dow n sizing" led her on a spiritual journey. M cA rthur says the change in circum stances made her take a look at her life-- what she'd done with it and w hat she w anted to do. "It was really the best thing that ever happened to me," she says, looking back. "Everything was happening at once; losing my job, dealing with an em pty nest. I needed a new purpose." Ironically, M cArthur found her link to the simplicity m ovem ent through the internet. W ebsites with nam es such as The S im plicity N etw ork and S eeds o f Sim plicity are helping like-m inded individuals in their quest for a less har ried lifestyle. For some, that may mean being less consum er-driven, buying less and accum ulating less. For others, it means developing stronger links to environ ment or community. One o f the guide posts for M cA rthur has been the book "C ircle o f Simplicity, Return to the G ood L ife" by (See `Circles' page A5) today's paper Editorials. M Focus.................................... B 1 Entertainment........................ C 1 Classified............................... C5 Business................................ C8 Sports....................................01 Automotive D6 a JM * \v\ .. ih4 « . 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