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Commentary Guest Columnist Ontario municipalities need comprehensive infrastructure plan Rick Byers Ontario PC Party Oakville Candidate IAN OLIVER Group Publisher NEIL OLIVER Publisher TERI CASAS Business Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ROD JERRED Managing Editor WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Metroland Media Group Ltd. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America Rick Byers O ver the last few weeks, politicians from various levels of government have been writing of their accomplishments on this page. They've campaigned on everything that's been done in recent years and what they THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION will do in the future. But have they really gotten to the core of the major issues that impact us as citizens of Oakville? Have they told you what you need to know or just what they think you want to hear? John Tory, the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, and I have been meeting with people in Oakville over the past few weeks. We've heard frustration at the number of promises, the volume of talk, the transparent photo ops, the grandiose announcements and the lack of any real action. One area of concern that we've heard time and again is the lack of action on gridlock and a fear that investment in infrastructure is not keeping pace with growth. Not only is it impossible to get through Oakville on the QEW at certain times of the day, often, it's difficult to get to the other side of town. Last week, it took my son Cam and I half an hour to drive from Dundas to Lakeshore on Trafalgar Road. Can't we do better than 12 kmh? To add insult to injury, we followed an empty bus for some of the trip; we caught a glimpse of the incomplete Kerr Street Bridge as we crossed the QEW (where it struck me that highway expansion was just taking too long); and we passed the Oakville GO station parking lot where mass transit is frustrated by insufficient parking. Gridlock is gradually paralyzing our community and, without a plan of action, it's not going to get any easier. For the past 15 years I have specialized in infrastructure finance and public private partnerships, working on projects such as the redevelopment of Pearson Airport; the commercialization of the Air Navigation system; hospital and courthouse infrastructure; and advising Atomic Energy of Canada on infrastructure projects. Over the past two years I have been advising the Ontario Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal on the development of new hospitals in Ontario. More recently, John Tory and the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party have asked for my advice on the development of a sustainable infrastructure program for the Province of Ontario. John and I understand that an infrastructure plan isn't about finding new ways to put cars on the road. Responsible infrastructure and urban planning takes issues such as the environment, health and emergency services, public transit and quality of life into consideration. You deserve an infrastructure plan that provides an economic climate grounded in certainty and reliability. John Tory and I are working together to implement a plan that will not only improve how we get around in this province, but will also create new jobs and attract investment over the long-term. As a part of our plan, John and I will work with other levels of government to evaluate the costs of infrastructure projects and look for ways to take some of the pressure off municipalities. Municipalities are already forced to pay for services beyond their means, causing them to impose increasing taxes and other charges at the local level. Oakville is one of many Ontario communities grappling with growth. My goal is to start right here to create a model that will serve Oakville for a generation. John and I look forward to the opportunity to provide the kind of concrete, clear, definite leadership this province needs. The five-alarm blaze of love still burns, but the heat is gone Last Sunday my wife and I awoke to a cold cruel reality whose arrival we had anticipated and dreaded -- to the bitter realization that the heat was gone. Now, I'm not referring to the heat in our marriage, the fivealarm blaze that is our love, the spicy buffalo chicken wings that are our passion. No, I'm talking about the heat in our house, the fire in our furnace. Being a handyman of repute, I ran downstairs to investigate, or at least determine in which room this foreign furnace-heatthingy resides, returning minutes later with my sage diagnosis. "Like Paris Hilton driving through the streets of Los Angeles at night with no headlights turned on, with a suspended license, and the subtle whiff of liquor on her breath," I announced, "the furnace is busted." Seriously busted. We called for help. Now, you'd like to imagine that on the bitterly cold day your furnace expires, that help would be lurking just around the corner. But you'd be wrong. Help was on call in the Hamilton area with stops still to make in Oakville, Milton and Campbellville before Help could even contemplate coming to visit. Help arrived at the end of the day, just as the sun was setting and the temperature plummeting in very un-March-like fashion. Help unloaded a trunk of diagnostic tools that resembled the ectoplasmunearthing devices utilized by the Ghostbusters. And then Help concluded precisely what I'd concluded 10 hours earlier (without the aid of any diagnostic tools, I might add): the furnace was busted. Seriously busted. And, naturally, Help didn't have the part needed to fix the problem. Andy Juniper Do these guys ever have the part? Anyway, Help promised to order the part pronto, and then left us to our own survival devices. "Luckily," I said to my wife, "it isn't supposed to go down to minus-24 tonight with wind-chills in the minus-30s." And when my wife advised that the temperatures were indeed expected to do just that, I kept my composure and ran down the hallway yelling, "The End is nigh! We're going to die!" Once calmed, I built a roaring fire. We would live (or die), I told the kids, like pioneers of yore. Then, like those pioneers, I poured a tall glass of Bacardi and put the Beatles on the stereo. If I was going to freeze to death, I was going to be baked and Beatle-d. Dawn arrived and once I chipped off the icicles that had accumulated around my nose, I called the furnace company to ensure their imminent arrival. I rejoiced with the news that they were indeed coming. Damn good news considering forecasters were predicting that an even colder night was in store. However, when no personal savior showed up by noon hour, I called again and was cordially asked if I desired for them to go ahead and order the part. Order the part? I thought the part was ordered and en route to my frigid home. Oh, no, I was told. No part ordered. No service today. Terribly sorry for the screw-up. I called my wife at work: "Unlike the 1919 World Series, our furnace is not fixed." We spent another night in our little Winter Wonderland, worrying about pipes and people freezing. Mid-morning on Tuesday, Help finally arrived. And Help swiftly determined that the part that had been delivered was, in fact, not the part that was ordered. It's remarkable, and against all natural laws that govern the universe, that a man who is as c-c-c-old as I am could actually have smoke coming out of his ears. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com