6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday June 30, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com 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 NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production 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, MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver is a division of Disappointing year in Ottawa Bonnie Brown Oakville MP he Federal Parliament has recessed for the summer, ending a session in which the Opposition worked hard to hold the Government to account. We watched the Conservatives bring in the biggest spending budget in Canadian history. In it we saw personal income tax rates rise with a further increase scheduled. Vulnerable citizens at the lowest income levels have been the hardest hit. We saw the Prime Minister's betrayal in taxing income trusts after explicitly promising not to do so. Billions of dollars in personal savings have been lost as a result. We saw serious cuts to women's programs, literacy programs, museum programs and student summer jobs programs. All of these are delivered at the community level so many organizations are struggling to cope. As for me, I was proud to be the Official Opposition's Health Critic. At the Standing Committee on Health we completed an in-depth study on Childhood Obesity which will serve as a guide for provincial and local authorities to address this burgeoning problem. We opposed Conservative changes which would have weakened the Quarantine Act and we won. We questioned the Minister of Health on his budgetary initiatives which were the smallest amount of new money (2007 and 2008) for Health in the last eight years. I was surprised when the Minister was unable to answer several of my questions at the committee table. I was also an active member of the Liberal Foreign Affairs and Defense caucus committee. After the House of Commons voted to extend the Afghan mission until at least February 2009, we developed a strategy to end the combat mission at that time, to inform our NATO allies of our intention, and to put more resources into the social development activities taking place in the more peaceful parts of Afghanistan. Stéphane Dion announced this policy in a major speech in April. Interestingly, the Prime Minister's comments as Parliament recessed suggest that he has caught up with Canadians, seen the wisdom of the Liberal policy and adopted it. This is but one example of how the Liberal Opposition made progress for Canadians. Other examples include the Afghan detainee abuse situation. Conservative errors and cover-ups have been very troubling as the Prime Minister painted any critics of his government as pro-Taliban. As a result of our pressure, the government was forced to quickly negotiate a new detainee agreement with Afghan officials. After thorough consultations with stakeholders, the Liberal Party proposed an income trust taxation plan that could return as much as two thirds of the losses suffered by investors in the wake of the Conservatives' broken promise on income trusts. We forced the Government to reverse its position on the slashed Summer Career Placement Program that cost thousands of students their summer employment. We also pledged to restore full funding to the federal summer jobs program. IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. 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 Bonnie Brown RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America T THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION See Time page 9 Like the saying says: out with the old and in with the nude I want to carry my wife (yes, I'm well aware that she's been carrying me for years). Specifically, I want to toss her over my shoulder and carry her for gold, glory and grog. My wife, you see, is forever advising me that we need to try new things, that we need to unearth activities we can do together so that when we get old (er, older) we will have things to do aside from griping about global warming and the prohibitive price of PoliGrip. Well, imagine my goosebumps when I recently discovered the burgeoning sport of Wife Carrying. Talk about a perfect fit. I mean, this is an activity we can obviously do together. It's outdoorsy and athletic and therefore good for you. It possesses an intriguing competitive element. It sounds riotously fun. And, at assorted competitions around the globe, there are tons of fabulous prizes to be won. Take the 12th annual International Wife Carrying Championship, slated for next weekend in sunny Sonkajarvi, Finland. Last year the quirky event attracted participants from as far away as South Africa, Australia and Japan. To enter, all you need is to be at least 17-years-old, have a wife (although, in a pinch, the rules allow you to borrow your neighbour's wife, if she's willing) and enough strength to be able to cart your partner some 830 feet over sand, grass, asphalt, two dry obstacles and one treacherous water obstacle. Naturally, if you drop your wife you are penalized 15 seconds (although once the dropped wife gets you home, the penalty could well be greater). And the winner? The Andy Juniper winner captures his wife's weight not in gold, but -- better still --- in beer! My word, it's an event even Homer Simpson would love. Each year the sport of Wife Carrying grows. Just last weekend an event was held on Centre Island in Toronto as part of the Viking Festival. Now there's also talk of trying to get the activity entered into the Olympics (hey, if the clean-and-pressed pastime of Ultimate Ironing has a shot at Olympic inclusion, why not Wife Carrying)? And each year the competition in Finland gets a little more exposure: In 2005 it actually attracted a LaLa Land celebrity (granted, a C-list celebrity) in Dennis (The Worm) Rodman who even participated, and got his tattooed backside beaten by a couple from Estonia. Speaking of exposure: I am fully aware that there is a slim chance that my wife might balk at playing the role of a sack-ofpotatoes being tossed over my shoulder in such a competition. If so, I have my bases covered. I have an alternative activity in which we could participate, together, joyfully, right up into our dotage. I am referring, of course, to nude running. You read that right: nude running. This Thursday in Pamplona, Spain, they're holding the sixth annual Running of the Nudes, wherein activists cheekily re-create the famous Running of the Bulls, only without bulls, or the encumbrances of attire for that matter (motto of the run: Out With The Old, In With The Nude). Participants in this run -- protesting the imminent opening of the bullfighting season (Goring Is Boring! It's Not Cool To Be Cruel!) -- don their good intentions, red scarves, bull's horns and lots and lots of sunscreen and go out and grab headlines. Last year's run attracted more than 600 activists. And this year? Well, maybe I'll be in attendance if I'm not out carrying my wife, for gold, glory and grog. AndyJuniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.