467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 845-3824 Fax 845-3085 LZUEIUUT Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager T We e en en Stouttville/Uxbridge "w"l’"rbcm-m."ljilb';l_(:amd"w'l;nmchanpion. Mississauga News,, Newmarketâ€"Aurora Eraâ€"Banner, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby This Week, P;tuboquh This Week, Richmond HilV All material published in the Oakwills Beaver is protected by copyright. Any reproduction in whole or in part of this material is strictly forbidden wit the consent of the publisher. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for ; at the appiicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize and !ejsct'advem:ng In the event of typographical error, advertising goods : re or services at the wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Adverti sell and be withdrawn at any time. Ian Oliver Publisher Robert Glasbey Advertising Director Norman Alexander Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Tim Coles Production Manager We agree that Ontario Hydro must be made more efficient and OH chairman Maurice Strong has been looking at various ways to branch out of the power busiâ€" ness as a way to generate cash for the heavilyâ€"indebted provincial utility. That is not the way to go and neither is the wholesale cutting of staff in branch areas of Ontario Hydro, which has had a negative impact on consumers. If the Ontario parent operated as efficiently as Oakville Hydro, Ontario taxpayâ€" ers wouldn‘t be paying the millions of dollars in interest payments for Ontario Hydro debt. Little wonder Strong is ready to embrace this plan to offâ€"load what amounts to a mountain of debt onto local utilities. Talk about an easy way out. Former Mayor of Oakville, Harry Barrett was one of those who had a vision of a lakefront walkway and that vision has continued through successive administraâ€" tions. Tomorrow, the Province of Ontario will recognize the value of our conservaâ€" tion efforts and environmental vision by handing over $931,000 to improve Coronation Park and make other waterfront improvements. The vision lives on. If Ontario Hydro allows the plan to proceed, it would mean local utilities would be under the forces of world economics and with a Quebec election looming and money markets already skittish, this is no time to float a multiâ€"billionâ€"dollar trial balloon. Noonan says he has examined the proposal and sees no financial advantages for local power consumers and that is where any thoughts about selling off secâ€" tions of Ontario Hydro should end. akville has the great advantage of being located on the shores of Lake Ontario and that has been the town‘s main touchstone since it was founded by Col. William Chisholm. But over the years, the town has made a few mistakes in dealing with its waterâ€" front legacy. Developers have succeeded in outâ€"foxing some town councils over the years and the result has been a blight on both harbors. As far as Noonan is concerned, this is the wrong approach in trying to remake Ontario Hydro and we agree with him. But there are success stories and one of those is the Waterfront Trail that is conâ€" stantly expanding and will ultimately see a promenade from one end of town to the other branching out east and west to Mississauga and Burlington respectively. doesn‘t a whole lot of a plan by the Municipal Electric Association that uggests Ontario Hydro dismantle its operation into separate companies. Under the scheme, local utilities like Oakville Hydro, would be responsible for the power transmission service. But the big question is just how would the local utilities raise the cash to run their part of ‘the Grid‘? Km Noonan is no fool. Oakville Hydro‘s general manager and secretary Lakefront vision Dodging debt 467 Speers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 845â€"3824 Fax: 845â€"3085 Classified Advertising: 845â€"2809 Circulation: 845â€"9742 or 845â€"9743 Advertiser, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Collingwood ‘ Connection, Etobicoke Guardian, lown I Acton Free Kingston This Week, Lindsay ‘Thi leek, Markham Economist and Sun, The Beaver, published every Sunday, Wednesday and Fri .al467' wm‘.mn,mutmmmyagm' lishing Distributing‘ T eP ickenng News , Our boys were both pretty much mental with excitement. Out of Ottawa, we were careening down to Kemptville, to Rare Gems Kennels, home of a breeder of Petits Bassets Griffons Vendeens (PBGV). Dogs, man, dogs. The date was July 7th, 1994. Our Dâ€"Day. Dog Day. The day we go to pick up our sevenâ€"week old puppy. Having just left Ottawa, we were driving south. For the four previous days, we‘d been visitâ€" ing the nation‘s capital, doing touristy things â€" darkening the doorways of more museums than I care to mention (or recall); hanging out around our hotel swimming pool, and reckâ€" lessly hurling ourselves down the hotel‘s twoâ€"storey waterâ€" slide; and absorbing Ottawa‘s abundant sights, including the patriotic spectacle Scott deterâ€" mined was called "The Changing of the Garden at the Apartment Buildings." We were also darn certain we‘d witnessed our Prime Minister out cutting his front lawn â€" with a push mower â€" which really brought all this political beltâ€"tightening blather into perspective... Navigating along another highway of life, I glance in the rearâ€"view mirror and see our funny fourâ€"yearâ€"old, shirt lifted up, intensely examining his nipâ€" ples. "Does Mom?" he wonders. I‘d like to answer this curious kid, but I‘m laughing too hard... 6 6 ad," Scott calls from his carseat, buckledâ€"in the backseat of our van, "do you have brown bumps like these?" "Yeah, big guy, I‘ve got bumps like those." How one family fell in love with ‘fabulous Franny‘ We were tempted to make off with all three, but in the end sanity (and the breeder) preâ€" vailed and we decided upon the pup which would soon be offiâ€" cially named Francine (Franny) Juniper. Wow! What a big name for such a little girl. The drive home went remarkâ€" ably well. Our fears were obviâ€" ously unfounded; little Franny was.a saint.. A.saint, .that, is, Being the first puppy purâ€" chasers to arrive, we had the pick of the litter. Since we‘d decided we wanted a female â€" to help even out the whole outâ€" ofâ€"whack maleâ€"female ratio in our household â€" our choice was between three pups. All equally adorable. As we drove up the breeder‘s laneway, a pack of incredibly cute PBGV pups marched around from behind the house, sniffing up a storm and doing their littleâ€"dog waddle toward us. We all experienced love at first sight. True puppy love. My wife, on the other hand â€" while thrilled to be finally pickâ€" ing up "her pup" after months of research, talk, and anticipation â€" was a little nervous. The thought of a potentially vansick poopy, I mean puppy, on her lap for five hours from Kemptville to Oakville, well... Especially Matthew, 8, who‘d convinced us many moons preâ€" vious that without a dog, our lives were but fleas and ticks on the sorry rump of time. ...... I hope the moon‘s glare off my underwear didn‘t startle you. I hope Franny‘s display of raw puppy energy didn‘t turn you off buying a dog. Because I know if you could see our girl in a softer light â€" say, dawn â€" you‘d be rendered gaga. You‘d want to pet her little head, and you‘d be left muttering like some old dog lover! "My word, To my poor, unsuspecting neighbors â€" up for a glass of water or bladder relief â€" who have had the grave misfortune of glancing out their front winâ€" dows and found me, illuminated by a shock of moonlight and staggering down our street in my Melrose Place underwear, following the anxious lead of Fabulous Fran, The Wonder Dog; well, I apologize profuseâ€" ly. until that night when we put her to bed. Until she awoke, first whimpering, then whining, then building to a horrendous how! â€" just to let us know that she knew the ticking clock we‘d placed near her bed wasn‘t the beating heart of her mother; just to let us know she was pretty peeved with us for having torn her from the bosom of her famiâ€" ly. We‘ve had Franny for more than two weeks now. She‘s setâ€" tling in well, making herself at home by chewing everything in sight, including grass that makes her vomit on our most valued possessions... Also, she still has me up on occasion at hours when I‘d far prefer to be sawing some serious logs. She gave us this message at midnight. She repeated it three times through the night.