C C N A BETTER NEWSPAPERS COMPETITION 2000 w w w .o a k v 'lie b e a v e r .c o m Workshop looks at womens' fiction T he A Metroland Publication Vol. 38 No. 134 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15,2000 arts M ercedes-B enz ^ 6 P a |e ^ 5 C e n t s g z s G S 7 ^ B a d n ig h t fo r in c u m b e n ts Liz Behrens loses to Jeff Knoll in Ward 5 nail-biter By Kim A rn o tt SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER It was quicker to resolve than the A m erican p re sid e n tia l ra c e , but O akville experienced its own brand o f p o litical suspense in W ard 5 M onday night. A close race that saw veteran reg io n al c o u n c illo r L iz B eh ren s lose the seat she has held for 20 years to new com er Jeff K noll, near ly cam e dow n to a recount. A lthough final election results were in at town hall by 9 p.m ., it was alm ost tw o hours later, after scrutinizing individual poll results, before B ehrens conceded the v icto ry to K noll. "It was a very close race and my congratulations to Mr. K noll," she said, after she and tw o volunteers checked the tow n's final vote tally. A rm ed w ith results from all but one poll, B ehrens had arrived at tow n hall convinced that she could n 't have possibly lost the race. "I t's crazy. T h ere's no way he could have got 500 votes and I got 100 (in poll 505)," said B ehrens, w ho has served seven term s on council. "I think th ere's som e m is count problem som ew here." But, in fact. Knoll did carry the night, w ith a slim m argin of 68 votes. F inal re su lts w ere 2,305 for Knoll and 2,237 for B ehrens. "A win is a win is a w in, right?" said K noll, w ho described the cam paign as "a nail-biter." A rriving at town hall w ith his w ife and four o f five children in tow , the 3 6 -y ear-o ld said he believed his ideas had engaged vot ers in the central northern O akville ward. "I think the folks in the ward w ere looking fo r a chan g e," he said. K noll said he intends to con cen trate on im proving com m unication with constituents through regularly sch ed u le d tow n h all m eetin g s, In tern et co m m u n ic a tio n s and new sletters. "C om m unication is ab so lu tely c ritical," he said. "N ine-tenths of the jo b is to be a com m unicator." He added that his jo b as a coun cillor will be to "get in the faces" o f his constitu en ts to be sure they u n d ersta n d o n g o in g m unicipal issues and to gather their opinions. A lth o u g h the d ev elo p m en t o f lands north o f Hwy. 5 was a m ajor issue in neighbouring W ards 4 and 6, Knoll said he felt the issue was too com plicated to take a blackand-w hite stand on during an elec tion cam paign. B ehrens chaired a council com m ittee w hich recen tly ap p ro v ed w hat critics in other w ards w ere d escribin g as a flaw ed plan for developm ent o f those lands. W hile a new com er to O akville council, Knoll has been politically involved at m unicipal, provincial and federal levels for m ore than 20 years. In the past, he has run election cam paigns for form er W ard 4 coun cillo r Stephen Sparling, who was defeated M onday night, and form er P ro g ressiv e C o n se rv a tiv e M PP Terence Young. Allan Elgar easily defeats Stephen Sparling in Ward 4 contest By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Ward 4 will have a new face at regional council starting next month after Mapleridge Crescent resident Allan Elgar beat two-term incumbent Stephen Sparling. Elgar won Monday night's elec tion by a convincing margin, 3,384 votes to Sparling's 2,239. MUNICIPAL "I'm extremely happy and I really want to get things done," Elgar said around 9 p.m. Monday. "People are finally waking up and figuring out that municipal politics are important." Elgar believes his support was based on the public's widespread concerns over unbridled growth in Oakville and across the region. That issue, he says, hits close to home to residents in all parts of town, so he had people from every ward help with his campaign. "There was a real ground swell, and last week workers pre dicted I'd win," said Elgar. "There was a great turnout and they had to bring in more ballots in Ward 4." Elgar said he had a 78-year-old gentleman from south of the QEW donate $100 and help with his campaign - just one exam ple of all those who are concerned that vital infrastructure such as roads are not in place. E The Knoll family (top) checks out the results in the Ward 5 Regional Councillor race. Looking on are: Evan, 13, Bryan, 16, Dylan, 7, Jeff, David, 18 months and Michelle. Missing is daugh ter Sarah. That's Ward 5 incumbent trustee Liz Behrens (left) with Town of Oakville Deputy Clerk Christine Shewchuk going over the results. Photos by Riziero Vertolli (See `Sparling' page A5) Two tre e -lig h tin g s F rid a y n ig h t Oakville will be hosting two Tree Lighting ceremonies on Friday night. Santa and his elves will be on Kerr Street for its 7th annual Tree Lighting Ceremony. The event will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Heritage Square, Kerr Street and Florence Drive. St. Aidan's Anglican Church Choir, accompanied by guitarist John Picone, will lead the carol singing. The tree will be lit by SheriLynn Poape and Daniel Wolak at 7 p.m. · There will be refreshments hot food and drinks. This event is sponsored by the Kerr Street Merchants Association. And festivities begin in downtown Oakville, at Towne Square at 7 p.m. Oakville's new Town Crier, Ian Burkholder, will lead the caroling. The Oakville Trafalgar High School Woodwind Orchestra, local vocal group Dream, and the Oakville Salvation Army Band will perform seasonal favourites. The tree will be lit at 7:30 p.m. Salvation Army volunteers will be serving hot cider. All those planning to attend are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy for the Salvation Army's Jingle Bell Fund. The downtown tree lighting is sponsored by the Oakville BIA. Photo by Rizero Vertolli Former Oakville Councillor Fred Oliver, seen here with his wife Irma, returned to politics Monday with a win as Halton Regional Councillor in Ward 2. Federal election candidates square off in two debates The Oakville Chamber of Commerce is hosting an all candidates meeting for the fed eral riding of Oakville on Monday, Nov. 20th at W hite Oaks Secondary School, South Campus. The event will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The school is located at 1330 Montclair Dr. All five candidates have confirmed their attendance: Bonnie Brown (Liberal), Willie Lambert (NDP). Dan Ferrone (Alliance), Rick Byers (PC) and David DeBelle (Green Party). Cogeco plans to tape the debate. The following night, Nov. 21st, Canadian Auto Workers Local 707 hosts its all candidates debate from 7 to 9 p.m. This event takes place at the Galaxy Club, located at 475 North Service Rd. East. For more information call Paul Taggart at 844-9451 ext. 233. Veteran politician Fred Oliver returns to win Ward 2 Halton post By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Fred Oliver is Ward 2's new local/regional represen tative after six-year absence from Town Council. According to unofficial results available at press time, Oliver won the seat with 1,989 votes, beating out Simon Dann (1,295 votes) and David Bazar (1,148). "I feel terrific," Oliver said around 9 p.m. Monday. "I'm glad to be back." Oliver left council six years ago when he moved from Oakville, paving the way for Kathy Graham to make a successful run at his vacant seat. (Graham resigned from Council in May.) Oliver said he credits his latest win to a number of factors. "After serving 14 years on co u n cil... I'm known in town," said Oliver, former chief of the Oakville Police Department and deputy-chief of the Halton Regional Police Department. "I call a spade a spade. I'm con cerned for the community and I make decisions based on what's best for the entire community." (See `Oliver1page A8) & fiin m k __ ____ __ .............AS R1 r,.|M , 1 iLininiit RR ni ns nfl m Business _______ 0 8 Advance polls open Friday (M ilto n crash claim s local m any A 28-year-old Oakville man was killed Friday evening in Milton when he lost control of his car and collided with a hydro pole. According to Halton Regional Police, Vadim Yakubovskiy was eastbound on Derry Road around 9 p.m. when his vehicle crossed into the westbound lane and struck the pole. Yakubovskiy was thrown from his car, which erupted in flames, and he was pronounced dead at Milton District Hospital. The investigation continues. Voters who can't wait for Nov. 27th to cast their ballots in the federal election, can vote at one of several advance polls in Oakville on Friday. Advance polls will be open Friday, Saturday and Monday from noon to 8 p.m. Voters in the Oakville riding (all of Oakville south of Upper Middle Road) can cast their bal lots at four advance poll loca tions: the Oakville Municipal Building, 1225 Trafalgar Rd.; The Lions Foundation of Canada, 152 Wilson St.; Glen Abbey Recreation Centre, 1415 Third Line; and the Sir John Colbome Seniors Centre, 1565 Old Lakeshore Rd. Voters in the Halton riding (all of Oakville north of Upper Middle Road) can cast their bal lots at three advance poll loca tions: River Oaks Recreation Centre, 2400 Sixth Line, Croatian Catholic Mission, 2110 Trafalgar Rd.; and the Mother Theresa Catholic School, 1190 Westview Terrace. Speed Supplements: H o m ed efn ery: Sm, P artyC ity, B u s in es sD ep o t ftrtaldefwy: Alwfs Carpetnj S p o rtC h e*. M rs .P a w s .F u e fc . 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