Beaver THE OAKVILLE Voted Ontario's Top Newspaper Four Years in a Row - 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com CELEBRATING 26 YEARS! A cello for all seasons ARTSCENE Between Kerr & Dorval YOUR FRIEND IN THE BUSINESS 175 Wyecroft Rd. Oakville 905.845.6653 www.lockwoodchrysler.com OUT OF INK? REFILL AND SAVE UP TO 60% (formerly Island Ink-Jet) Upper Oakville Shopping Centre (Upper Middle & 8th Line) 905-842-5600 refill refill A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 48 No. 16 "USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES" FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010 40 Pages $1.00 (plus GST) Hearts for Haiti NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER CLASSROOM WITH A HEART: Claire Elliott, Monica Patel, Jon Ho and Seimei Mio peer through the classroom door of Holly Miskelly's Grade 8 class at E. J. James Public School. As part of a school-wide Hearts for Haiti fundraiser, the Grade 8 class decided to charge $5 for each heart, instead of the suggested $2. The class raised $1,120 and the entire school raised a total of $3,700. Proceeds from the fundraiser are being donated to the Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund. Catholic board can't meet provincial request to cut corners By Tim Foran OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Bulk of budget committed to salaries of the board's $250 million "Are there huge dollars No," said Van de Vrande in operating budget this year an interview. dedicated to salaries and that can be found? No." At Tuesday night's benefits, there aren't many board meeting, trustees other places to find money, Bob Van de Vrande, reviewed a Jan. 4 letter admitted Burlington Chair Halton District written to school boards trustee and board chair Catholic School Board across Ontario by then Bob Van de Vrande. Education Minister "Are there huge dollars that can be found? Kathleen Wynne, since replaced by Leona Staring at a $24.7 billion deficit this fiscal year, the Province is asking school boards to try to find efficiencies as it prepares its 201011 budgets. However, Halton's Catholic school board will be hard pressed to cut major costs as it has already committed three per cent wage hikes to all of its employees including its non-unionized staff. With almost 85 per cent Dombrowsky. In the letter, Wynne points out the Ministry has increased school board grants by $5 billion, or 34 per cent, between the 2002-03 and 2009-10 school years. Operating grants to Halton's Catholic school board have increased 46 per cent since 2003-04, higher than the 10 per cent increase in enrollment it has seen over that time frame, according to Ministry documents. Wynne's letter goes on to note the size of See Board page 13 · HOME · AUTO · LIFE · BUSINESS · AV I AT I O N THE MAGNES GROUP INC. 1540 Cornwall Rd., Suite #100, Oakville, ON L6J 7W5 Tel: 905-845-9793 Fax: 905-845-9149 www.magnesgroup.com END INSURANCE CONFUSION. For informed decisions that you can feel good about, contact us!