Wednesday November 15, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A7 COMMENT F in e a r t o f d e b a te lo s t o n p a r t y le a d e r s O ne o f my friends was telling me the other day about her brother and his w ife, living in Europe for a year. W hat an opportunity, I said, how fabulous. But she said not at all. A lm ost as soon as they settled into their house in the country, this couple began to com plain: the tim e it takes them to get from their sm all village to a m ajor city; the people, the cars, the pace o f life. Im agine that, I said. "H igh exp ectatio n s," m y friend co m m ented . "T hey both have alw ays had such high ex pectations." And I thought o f this as I sat down w ith about three m illion other chum ps to w atch w hat had to be the m ost asto n ish in g d eb ate in this country: a pum m eling o f the prim e m inister. The call for respect on the part o f Stockw ell D ay was now here apparent; G illes D uceppe spoke true to form ; A lexa M cD onough seem ed unable to veer o ff the single track and only Joe C lark looked as though he belonged on a debating platform . It was C la rk 's night, to be sure. He even had the best line, by far, when he accused Day o f running to DIANE HART be m ore o f a "game show host" than the prim e m inister o f a country. How apt. B ut surely, I thought, is it too m uch to expect a civil debate in w hat is know n as one o f the m ost polite countries on the planet, where peo ple apologize for the tiniest o f m is dem eanors. Surely it is not too much to ask that the prim e m inister be given the opportunity to actually answ er w ithout interruption? But perhaps, it is too much to ask in this election. Perhaps, I too, am suffering from high expectations. From the absurd antics down in the S tates to th is last excuse for a debate, it has been a cam paign o f am azingly low expectations. I can 't tell you how many tim es I sat in frustration waiting to see how Chretien would handle a question, only to hear the others chim e in like some goofy chorus. And so, we had what am ounted to a bickering session with a bem used prim e m inister w ondering, in all likelihood, what the heck was hap pening all around him. Clark, at least looked as though he was hav ing the time o f his life. But even he descended into m adness as he w res tled the cue card from Day and scraw led out the word No. W hat was this? Rom per Room? I do not expect to like what many of them say; nor do I expect to walk away with a vote for one o f them altered in any significant way. But I do expect to hear w hat they have to say. A radio com m entator said he always rates debates by his own mom ent o f discom fort. If he begins to feel a little uncom fortable, he knows h e's not going to throw his vote tow ards the one making him squirm. My m om ent o f discom fort came at the point Day theatrically came out from behind his podium to ask Chretien if he'd call him a liar. Ye Gods. I think back to the great debaters, people like Stephen Lew is, Pierre Trudeau, Ed Broadbent, Jean Charest, even, for heaven's sake, Brian M ulroney could run circles around these jokers. You may not like what they have to say, but you adm ired the way in which it was said, w ith intellig en ce, w ith a degree o f style. A fter all, these people are vying for the top jo b in the land. H olding up a card? Please. Has the world gone m ad? W e've got an electo ral m ess dow n in the States, with the top jo b still up for grabs a week after voting day. Up here, we have candidates to ssin g props and cheap gim micks into what is supposed to be a debate about the issues. If anyone expected to grab my vote during the debate, they should n 't have so greedily and cheaply tried to bully the man they accuse as a bully. I suppose we can thank our stars for one thing: at least we w on't have to deal with a butterfly ballot. W H ER E CH RISTM A S CASH ES 'cyme 1 OUR CHRISTMAS SALE IS ON NOW m r w ir L o o k f o r t h e E n n is c la r e I n t e r i o r s C H R IS T M A S S A L E F L Y E R in S e le c t e d E d it i o n s o f t o d a y ' s O a k v ille B e a v e r A P P L E B Y C O L L E G E CHRISTMAS HOUSE TOUR S a tu r d a y , D e c e m b e r 2 n d 1 0 :0 0 a .m . to 4 :0 0 p .m . G> O A K V IL L E 8 4 5 -6 6 0 1 WANTED FITNESS INSTRUCTORS & PERSONAL TRAINERS EXPERIENCE PREFERRED DEMO REQUIRED MUST BE CERTIFIED ( CPTN, OFC, ACE, YMCA, CANFIT) WITH CURRENT FIRST AID AND CPR Please send Resume to either Recreation Centre: R IV ER O A K S R E C R E A T IO N C E N T R E G L E N A B B E Y A Q U A T IC & 2400 S IX T H LIN E / '" J l R E C R E A T IO N C E N T R E O A K V ILLE , O N T A R IO 1415 T H IR D LIN E L6H3M8 OAKVILLE O A K V IL L E , O N T A R IO No Telephone Calls Please L6M 3G 2 NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS Tbwn of Oakville Zoning By-law Review - Industrial Zoning Component The Town of Oakville is currently undertaking a detailed comprehensive review of the Town's Zoning By-law No. 1984-63. The `industrial component' of this Review is now near completion, and has resulted in the preparation of draft amendments to both the Town's Official Plan and Zoning By-law. The draft amendments will effect changes to all industrial lands within the municipality, including all industrial lands within the Burloak, QEW West, QEW East, Winston Park, and Winston Park West Industrial Districts, lands within the Mid-Town Core Employment District, and a very limited number of other industrial properties not located within a defined industrial or employment district. The draft amendments propose to add certain use permissions to virtually all industrial properties within the municipality, however, in many cases, certain existing use permissions will be limited or restricted, or removed altogether. With few exceptions, all industrial properties within the municipality will also be subject to either minor or major revisions to regulatory standards affecting development on individual properties. To date, major issues that have been identified through the industrial zoning review, and which will be affected by the draft amendments, include office use and retail use permissions, general industrial operations and outside storage and operations, waste processing and transfer facilities, increased regulatory standards along the major highway corridors, and the removal of site specific special provision by-law requirements. Please be advised that three public meetings will be held to discuss the proposed draft Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment The first two meetings will be open house/infonnation meeting sessions hosted by the Planning Services Department to provide opportunity for public review and input into the draft Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments. The first open house/information meeting session will be held on Tbesday, November 28^000 commencing with an open house session from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and followed by an information meeting commencing at 7:00 p.m. The open house session will be held In the Bronte Room, and the information meeting held in the Trafalgar Room, both located at Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville. The second open house/information meeting session will be held on Thursday, November 30,2000 commencing with an open house session from 2:00 pjn. to 5:00 p m , and followed by an Information meeting commencing at 7:00 p.m. Both the open house and information meeting will be held in the Oakville Room, Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road, OakvlUe. The proposed draft Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments are currently available to the public in the Planning Services Department, Town Hall, and will also be available at the open house/information meeting sessions. The third meeting will be a public meeting hosted by Tbwn Coundl at which time a Staff Report and recommendation on the draft Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment will be considered. This meeting will take place on January 29,2001 commencing at 7:30 p.m. In the Tbwn Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville. A copy of the Staff Report pertaining to this matter will be available for review in the Clerk's Department as of January 22,2001, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Any individuals wishing to attend these meetings and speak to this matter are invited to do so If a person or public body that files a notice of appeal of a decision in respect of the proposed zoning amendment or official plan amendment to the Ontario Municipal Board does not make oral submissions at a public meeting or does not make written submissions before the proposed zoning amendment is approved or the official plan amendment is adopted, the Ontario Municipal Board may dismiss all or pan of the appeal. If you wish to be notified of the adoption of the proposed official plan amendment, you must make a written request to the undersigned at the Town's Planning Services Department, Town of Oakville. P.O. Box 310, 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville, ON. L6J 5A6. Tel: 845-6601, Ext 3040, email address: bbellows® town.oakville.on.ca. Any other questions or concerns may also be addressed to the above mentioned location. Dated at the Town of Oakville this 15" day of November 2000. Bruce Bellows, Planner, Long Range Planning Section, Planning Services Department T ickets are $2 5 each i? m ust he pu rch a sed in advance. A va ila b le a t A p p le b y C ollege 6- local m erchants. Please c a ll 8 4 5 -7 5 4 6 (ext. 3 21) f o r fu r th e r d etails. FURS · SH E E P SK IN S · LEATHER · CLO TH COATS · ACCESSO RIES 209 Lakeshore Rd E. D ow ntow n Oakville (905) 845-2031 Hours: M on.-T hurs. 9-6 p.m . Fri. 9-8 p.m . Sat. 9-5 p.m . Sun. Closed 1225 TR AFALG AR R O A D · O A K V ILLE, O N T A R IO · L6J 5A6