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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday June 14, 2000 The Oakville Beaver Ian O liver Publisher Ne9 O liver Associate Publisher N o rm an A lexan d er E d ito r K elly M o n ta g u e , Advertising D irector S tev e C ro zie r C ircu la tion D irector Ten C a s as Office M anager M a rk D its Production M anager R iziero V ertolli D irector o f Photography Metroland Printing. PuUehing & Detrfcutng LO.. includes: A^ax/Pickenng News Advertiser. Aliston HeraKVCouner, Arthur Enterprise News. Barrie Advance. Barry's Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guandan. Burlington Post. Burlington Shopping News. City Parent. CoingwoocVWasaga Cormectcn. East 'itxk Minor. Erin Advocaie'Cointry Routes, Etobicoke Guardian. Flamborough Post. Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Hamston Review. Hucnia Business Tmes. Kingston This Week. Lindsay This Week. Markham Ecnomist & Sun. Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror. Milton Canadian Champion. Milton Shopping News. 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" JMthaia IJXmard .......... t e - f*C N A ^ 7 -2* C a n a d ia n C o m m u n ity N ow sp apors A s s o c ia t i o n Jif*qlE Bell Fund 467 Speers Rd,, Oakville O n t L 6 K 3 S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 'Take © (Oakville (^ b v a c d s SK« m < 9 n t^ THE BRONTE SUTTERFLY -rw A M ^rinN TV AUCTION O N T UnitedWa» of Oakville R I fftu d A O | oakville galleries | Editorials What are they waiting for? W hy is it taking Health Canada so long to remove the heartburn drug, Cisapride (known as Prepulsid in this country and Propulsid in the United States) from pharmacy shelves. Last M arch, the m anufacturer o f the drug, Janssen Pharm aceutica of Titusville, N.J. announced that Propulsid would no longer be marketed in the U.S. after July 14th - except in special cases. That announcem ent came shortly after the death of Oakville teenager Vanessa Young, who died in front of her parents when her heart stopped beat ing at home. She had been taking Prepulsid off and on since last year. In announcing the removal of Prepulsid, Health Canada said its withdrawal was due to the possibility o f causing rare, but serious heart complications including irregular heartbeat rhythms and sudden death. Vanessa Young's death wasn't the only one linked to the heartburn drug. South of the border the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recorded 80 deaths and 341 heart rhythm abnormalities associated with the use o f the drug. Some o f these deaths dated back as far as 1998. Health Canada has received at least 44 reports of potential heart rhythm abnormali ties. But instead of acting in conjunction with the U.S. in removing the drug, Health Canada waited more than two months. The drug will still be available in pharmacies until Aug. 7th. Why? Among those searching for an answer is Vanessa's father Terence Young. He is also searching for answers to other questions, such as why the drug was prescribed to his daughter in the first place. "Why would a life-threatening drug be prescribed for a non-life threatening condition?" he asks. Mr. Young and his family deserve an answer. They are hoping for a public inquiry in the form of a Coroner's inquest to answer many or their questions and to protect other Canadians from suffering a similar nightmare. Rather than dithering like Health Canada, the Office of the C hief Coroner should act quickly and order an inquest. Vanessa's family deserves some answers. We all deserve some answers. Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Teens in I am w riting co n cern in g the terrible incidents that occurred on Saturday, June 3, 2000. A round Midnight, my family and I were ju st finishing w atching a movie when we heard a large crack/bang sound just outside our front door. When we investigated, there were L e tte r o f th e W e e k O a k P a rk area creating havoc approximately 20 to 30 teenagers congregating all over our property and all along the entire street. A car parked on the street had its back windshield shot! A group of the teens seemed more concerned with the damage to the glass than if anyone was inside the vehicle who could have been hurt. I called the police, and they responded in less then five minutes and with two squad cars. Many of the teens got into several cars, some still with beer bottles in their hands, and sped off. Apparently, we were not the only ones to phone the police. All along the street, there were many teens fighting and damaging prop erty. There were many young girls laughing and smoking while all of this was going on, having a great time. When I finally ventured out side, my property was littered with empty and full beer bottles, and one young girl had her jeans down on her knees and was urinating on my front lawn! The police dis bursed everyone, and all was quiet again. The Animal House that is the main depot for these drunken par ties is well known on the street. Every summer, at least 7-15 times, th ere are p a rtie s w ith m ass amounts of teens and booze at this house. Most of the home owners tolerated the noise, excess cars on both sides of the street, and the beer b o ttles. T his m ost recen t party went completely out of con trol. I would like to know who to blam e. S o ciety in g en eral? Boredom? Television? The par ents who must know what is hap pening during these booze feasts? I was a teen once also, and I realize that getting attention is important to teens. But why van d alize, d rin k and d riv e, sh o o t guns, etc..? I know there are teens in Oakville who are the "cream of the crop" and are top o f the line citizens. But, it is the social stigmatism of the troubled teens that is getting more revealing. I worry about the resale im pact on our beautiful subdivision if Oak Park is considering by some as a battle ground for gangs of unruly teens. I worry about even writing this let ter. Will my family be shot at or terrorized in retaliation? These kinds of things are not supposed to happen in prosperous Oakville. Som ething m ust be done soon before there are obituaries from Oak Park printed in the newspa per. Teachers a good deal for taxpayers G a y P r id e D a y c o v e r a g e t o o p r o m in e n t How is it that Halton Gay Pride Day rated a (Wed. June 7, 2000 Oakville Beaver) front page headline, a big colour photo and a 1000-word article while the Jesus Jubilee had two small colour photos on the bot tom of the page and three sentences barely describing the event? With all due respect to the Gay Pride Day, which was attended by 100 people, I feel it is clearly biased journalism to give such prominence to it and so little to the Jesus Jubilee, attended by just under 2000. Oakville benefits year round from the efforts of many churches meeting and working together on a reg ular basis. The Jesus Jubilee, which raised money for the needy, is a realistic picture o f the heartbeat of Oakville. Christians in this community run low-cost housing (particularly benefiting single moms), homeless shel ters, counseling services, youth programs, women's support groups, day-care programs, etc. and much of this is done by volunteers who hear Christ's call to show his love to those in need. This community, and this paper, should be able to acknowledge this appro priately, front and centre. Or are we Christ-ophobic? M .M . S h o rt ste p from co u n cillo r to p o liticia n Re: Stephen Sparling letter, Oakville Beaver, Wed. June 7, 2000 This letter raises several points which concern me as a long-time Oakville resident and taxpayer. T he co n ten tio n th a t o u r elected o fficials are politicians, as distinct from councillors, reflects, in my mind, on the politicization o f our dem ocratic process at the m unicipal level, a trend w hich is abhorrent and a parody of the provincial and federal systems. In these systems, elected members ensure the party is well presented to us, ignoring our con cerns as to their action at the local level. At the municipal level, while I recognize that our councillors have political views, Iexpect them to address local issues in the light of local needs, as dis tinct from federal or provincial needs. O ur local needs are basic and reflect immediate and short term planning while the other levels of government reflect medium and long term planning. Mr. Sparling would do well to reflect on the old adage" he who pays the piper calls the tune", as should other councillors who finance their cam paigns from sources other than local. There is room in Oakville to obtain, from the local citizens, funding for re-election if the incumbent has shown his or her com m itm ent to this community, and not set his to her sights on other opportunities. In this regard, I have now heard on several occa sion , the last time being at the remuneration review, our elected representatives described as politicians, not councillors. The deserved infamy that the word politician has brought upon itself should reinforce the determination that the word politician not be per m itted to replace the w ord councillor, thereby demeaning the status and respect that latter term should endow on our elected representatives at the municipal level. Mr. Sparling might like to address himself to the letter by Mrs. Sandelewsky, published on the same date as his letter. This lady obviously has the best interests of Oakville at heart, as seen from her per spective. The adoption of a positive attitude like this might well provide the local financial support for Sparling's campaign, which he apparently lacks. We are fortunate in Oakville that we have a dedi cated Council at this time, but this will change if political colours become the criteria for election. I personally, like many others, have no problem in contributing to citizens who stand for election, as councillor in my ward, or for mayor, as I consider they are major promoters of the common good, and provide the input and control essential for that com mon good. A.H. McCullum G o rd B re n n a n P ud m ME W HATH APPEN ED IN Y our, day, MAX/ -ANDISOITANEWBOOK, ANPI G O TTA NEWTOY, AHt I W ENTA AM OVIE, ANPI .GOTO ICECREAMOot AND I Gars S O M E LEGO, ANP SOMI (ffu S C A N D Y by Steve Nease 'a $> y anp , R e: J .T o b ia s ' le tte r to e d ito r in the O a k v ille Beaver, Wed. June 7, 2000. I m ust adm it that anytim e I hear anything from Oakville natives I have to take what they say with a grain of salt and allow them som e latitude because o f th eir exalted position in the p rovince. H ow ever, J. Tobias' rantings and ventings cannot be allow ed to stand with out some dose o f the real world. As a m em ber o f the business community, he m ust be fam iliar with what a contract means. If an em ploy ee signs a contract with an em ployer to do a jo b for a specified period o f tim e - say ten m onths w ith no w ork av ailable for tw o m onths o f the y ear than it w ould be a stretch to say that the tw o m onths not working is a paid holiday. Teachers are contracted to work from Septem ber to June, and while they pay up to a $1000 a year in unem ploym ent insurance prem i ums they are not allowed to collect for this period o f u n e m p lo y m e n t. In d e e d , I h av e n e v e r h e a rd o f a teacher collecting unem ploym ent insurance. Many professional contracts include paid benefits to a ttra c t w o rkers. In the U n ited S tates access to m edical care is largely through paid b en efit plans from em ployers. Sw eat shops would not pay these. Paid sick leave is also a perk in many businesses. Evidently, if you are running your business, it would be a wise policy to seek extra-coverage beyond what is p ro v id e d by th e O n ta rio ta x p a y e r. (T h o s e in O akville who seek and can afford a tw o-tier system would also evidently pay through the nose to go first in line.) T h is red h errin g ab o u t rich p en sio n p lan s fo r te a c h e rs is g e ttin g old and sta le , b u t is c e rta in ly brought out by the 905 N azis at every opportunity. Teachers pay out 16% o f their gross income to CPP and teacher pension plans. If other w orkers paid l/6th o f their incom e perhaps they might have a "rich" pen sion plan as well. It is unlikely that any teacher will ever collect their OAP or their CPP unless they have short years o f service or bought out o f the pension plan. Teachers have had control o f their pension plan fo r a very sh o rt tim e, b u t have m an ag ed th ro u g h astu te m anagem ent to m ake up fo r years o f very cheap m oney loaned to the O n tario governm ent. I w ould su g g est th at O ak v ille ex ists b ecau se o f the cheap m oney from the O ntario teachers pension plan over dozens o f years. W ho do you think put up the capital for the infra structure that allow s O akville to com e into existence? Take away your highw ays and roads, your sew ers and w ater system s, your utilities and you w ould have a quiet burg on the north shore o f lake O ntario. The extravagant life style o f O akville and other 905 com m unities has been bought at the expense o f Toronto and the poor in this province. I suggest it is tim e that p eo p le lik e J.T o b ias and the o th e r se lfish , c lo se m inded, neo-cons in the 905 need a strong dose o f the real world. The Tory voters in W alkerton sure got one! In closing, perhaps J.Tobias should have w orked tow ards establishing a union at the insurance com pa ny to protect him self and workers from m anagem ent. O f course the Tory governm ent may decide at some future date to break the legal contract and set their own rules. D .S to n e