6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday March 17, 2007 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of 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 applicable rate.The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Commentary Guest Columnist On the campaign trail for fairness Gary Carr Halton Regional Chair alton residents may have seen recent media coverage about the launch of a "fairness campaign." Halton Region along with our four Local Gary Carr Municipalities the City of Burlington, the Town of Halton Hills, the Town of Milton, and the Town of Oakville are raising our concerns about the Provincial Places to Grow Plan directly with the Provincial Government. In fact, Halton's Regional Council adopted a resolution to press the case for fairness at Regional council on March 7. Our fairness campaign is all about advising the Provincial Government that we cannot accommodate the growth targets specified in the plan unless the Province commits to providing Halton with the necessary financial tools and funding commitments to address municipal infrastructure needs. The Provincial Places to Grow Plan, approved by the province in 2006, outlines the Province's vision for how and where municipalities will grow over the next 25 years. The Places to Grow Plan envisions Halton Region to grow its population by 68 per cent over the next 25 years to 780,000 residents. Accommodating this growth will require over $8.6 billion to cover the necessities of our quality of life such as hospital beds, schools, emergency services stations, roads, transit and waste management. Halton is a growing community committed to maintaining an excellent quality of life for its residents through the development of complete and healthy communities. The quality of life, character and the values of each community in Halton must be preserved through the Province's Places to Grow Plan. The Province's Plan requires Halton and its Local Municipalities to grow, but the Province has not delivered the necessary financial tools and Provincial funding commitments to allow the Region to achieve these requirements. Without the necessary financial tools and commitments, Halton Region cannot meet the objective of the Province's Places to Grow Plan. The mayors of our four municipalities and I believe it is unfair to expect Halton taxpayers to absorb the costs associated with a growth plan mandated by the Province. To address the shortfalls, we are asking the Province to provide an enhanced municipal infrastructure funding program and make immediate changes to the Development Charges Act, address GTA pooling inequities, and provincial cost sharing requirements. Although the Province is engaged in a Municipal Fiscal Services Review, this review is not timely enough. We are calling for immediate action to allow Halton to address the current infrastructure deficits and respond to the objectives in the Places to Grow Plan. I urge Halton's taxpayers to visit Halton's web site at www.halton.ca to find out more about the Fairness for Halton campaign. Online you will find a postcard that you can forward to your local MPP and MP to support our response, or you can contact Halton Region at 905-825-6000, toll free 1-866-4HALTON (1-866-4425866), TTY 905-827-9833 for more information. 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I mean, unless someone comes up with a tome entitled Be Even More Perfect If That's Humanly Possible, what's the point? Alas, we live in a society where I am the exception rather than the rule, where imperfect people infinitely outnumber perfect people, where self-absorption and insecurities abound and where, consequently, self-help books practically jump off bookshelves (and, in doing so, virtually carry the weight of the entire publishing industry on their spines). Case in point: The Secret. For those of you not in the selfhelp know, for those who don't regularly tune into Oprah, for those who actually have a life, The Secret is the latest rage in warm-and-fuzzy self-help. Conceived or should I say `contrived'? by Australian television producer Rhonda Byrne, The Secret is a runaway publishing phenomenon of near Potteresque proportions. Featured on (and fueled by) the aforementioned Oprah show, the book version of The Secret has been snatched up by an estimated 1.75-million searching souls, while DVD sales are at 1.5-million and rising. So, you're doubtlessly wondering, what is the secret con- tained in The Secret? Well, according to Newsweek magazine (spoiler alert!), there really is no secret. No, Newsweek says that while The Secret indeed injects "breathless pizzazz and a market-proven gimmick" into the self-help marketplace, it is more of the same-old, same-old. Byrne builds her book on 24 teachers (motivational speakers, gurus and the Andy Juniper like) who hang their hats on one helluva hook: telling readers that they can create their own reality through their thoughts. In Byrne's world, you can manipulate reality simply by conjuring up a new reality. If you're overweight, avoid obese people and think thin. And you will become thin. Think rich, and you will become rich. Think tall, dark and handsome and, well, you get the picture. Byrne asserts that we all have the power to bestow new fates upon ourselves by following her three simple steps: Ask. Believe. Receive. I'm asking Ms. Byrne to give me a break. I believe Ms. Byrne will give me a break. Damn! She isn't giving me a break! Now, I don't want to paint all self-help books with the same cynical brush. I'm sure there are some out there that aren't total hogwash. I'm sure there are some that are lifelines to struggling souls. And I'm sure there are some that are practical and very helpful. Take Don't Just Stand There, by Elissa Stein and Jon Lichtenstein, a book created to help expectant fathers become more useful to their laboring wives in the delivery room. This tome is chockfull of useful hints: Bring a cell phone and a charger and a list of family and friends you'll want to call. Bring money, deodorant, breath mints. Be calm and supportive (as opposed to agitated and contrary). Don't check your stocks between contractions. Don't discuss real estate with the doctor. And, of course, don't flirt with the nurses! Hey, nurse, how you doin'? Come here often? Are you from Tennessee? Cause in this room, you're the only ten I see! Elissa and Jon have two kids. And a self-help book that actually has a sense of humor. Ask. Believe. Receive. Hey, it works! Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.