A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday November 15, 2000 T h e Oa k v ille B eaver Ian Oliver Publisher Nei Oliver Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crozier Circulation Director Ten Casas OfficeManager Mark Dits Production Manager Riziero Vfertolli Director ofPhotography Metroland Pnnting, Pubistwg & Distrfcuting lid ., includes; Ajax/Pfckemg News Advertiser. Aftston Herafcl/Courier. Arthur Enterprise News. Barne Advance. Barry's Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardan, Burlington Post. Burlington Shopping N ew s. City Parent. CoingwoocyWasaga Connection. East 'itrk Mrror. Erin Advocate'Cantry Routes. Etobicoke Guardian. Ram borough Post. Georgetown Independent/Adon Free Press. Hamslcn Review. Huone Business Tmes, Kingston This Week. Lindsay This Week. Markham Ecnormst & Sun. Midiand/Penetanguishine Mirror. Milton Canadian Champion. Milton Shopping News. Mssissauga Business Tmes. Mississauga News. Napanee Glide. 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StoufMte'Uxbridge Ytoune, Forever Mxng, City olVbrk GcanJan OPINION RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: I YMCA OF OAXVl_L£ J Strategies for T j f T ^ E W fe LC O M E ^ ^ W a g o n ltd " ~ S ince 1930 ..........f c . liNqle Bill Fund JMvna ~Pdie ,, JAward (Qakville ©Awards to r r fp 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 8 4 5 9 7 4 2 * C N A ZJ Canadian Community Newspapers Association m B R O N T E TV AUCTION O N T A M P T in iJ United Way of Oakville fi t h e B U T T E R F L Y A k f in d R VI LLI | oakville galleries | I O SK Suburban Newspapers ot America Town o rlo i E d it o r ia ls The last election As we mark the end of the municipal election and turn our eyes to the federal campaign, it's worth recapping what our local elected and acclaimed politicians will face three year's hence. For one thing, there won't be any may We'vejust taken part in oralty races and the slate of councillors will what' s likely to be the last be greatly reduced. And don't look for any municipal election of its kind Halton Regional councillors either. As for in the town of Oakville. Halton District School Board trustees and Changes are H alton C atholic D istrict School Board coming...big changes. tru ste e s, d o n 't look fo r m any o f them either, and Regional Chair? Forget it. So what does that leave? Not a whole heck of a lot if Halton morphs into a kind of super region or city like Hamilton has just done. In that case, the sur ro undin g m u n icip alities such as S toney C reek, D undas, A ncaster and Flamborough disappeared from the political landscape. They now have no may ors and ju st one representative on the super council of the New City of Hamilton. So get ready for it Oakville, the die has been cast and it's coming our way in 2003. The only question is what the new political entity will be called and what towns will be herded off to other regions. That means the Town of Oakville will cease to exist, as will the City of Burlington with both merging to form...Burloak Ontario? Oakville Town Hall has just been expanded and Burlington has one on Brant Street and then there's Halton Regional Headquarters on Bronte Road. Look for the regional headquarters to be the new City Hall. And for those out there who say this couldn't happen to our fair town, we say look east to Mississauga, an amalgam of many smaller towns. Although new comers to the area won't remember, there used to be towns such as Cooksville, Malton, Port Credit, Clarkson etc. but they ceased to be formally recognized after the mythical City of Mississauga was formed. Residents would do well to remember all of these things in the coming years as politicians manoeuvre for survival in the megacity vote of 2003. L e t t e r s t o t h e E d ito r The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Liberal MP was in middle o f HRDC debacle The Canadian A uditor G eneral has con firm e d th e w o rst re g a rd in g T h e L ib e ra l Governm ent's "Billion Dollar Boondoggle." The financial problems in Human Resources D ev elo p m e n t C an ad a (H R D C ) are m uch worse than we were led to believe. Denis Desautels, our Auditor General, has confirm ed that the large scale m ism anage ment o f taxpayer funds by HRDC (Human R e s o u rc e s D e v e lo p m e n t C a n a d a ) w as "...very serious. We found widespread prob lems in all key areas and in all the programs we examined. It was more than ju st sloppy paperwork. We found that controls had bro ken down, putting public funds at unaccept able risk." He found that under H RDC's two key "jo b " programs, funds allocated to com panies w ere m ishandled o v er 85% o f the time and success rates were overstated. There is evidence o f rules not being fol lowed and taxpayer funds being used to ben efit political friends of the Liberals. Already, there are fo u r R C M P in v e stig a tio n s into HRDC funding in Jean Chretien's riding. T h e L ib e ra ls h av e sh u ffle d o ff one M inister (Pierre Pettigrew) and the Deputy M inister (Mel Capp), but the Parliamentary S e c re ta ry fo r H R D C has been c o n sta n t throughout this mess: that is Bonnie Brown. We all complain about working long hard hours at the office, only to face 50% margin al tax rates, the GST on top of that, govern ment gouging on fuel prices, etc. etc. But when we see our hard-earned money being squandered so brazenly, we have to say enough is enough. The totally unnecessary early election will at least give the voters of Oakville a chance to decide whether we wish to continue trusting Boondoggle Bonnie with our money. L e tte r o f th e W e e k Time for honesty, clarity in energy billings ffi Glen D. Herring National debt crippling health care The verbiage being bandied about how healthcare should be administrated is very dis concerting to say the least. No one wants to pay anything! Period. This attitu d e has been prev alen t since form er O n tario L ib eral P rem ier D avid P etersen stopped the general population of Ontario from A lw a y s r e m e m b e r e d The following poem was the work of two grade 7 boys at Heritage Glen Public School and presented at the school's Remembrance Day assembly. Labour group backs NDP The Oakville and District Labour Council are pleased to endorse Willie Lambert's feder al New Democratic Party candidacy for the riding o f Oakville. The monies from federal and provincial tax cuts do not come close to covering the rising costs to families for their c h ild r e n 's p o s t-s e c o n d a ry e d u c a tio n . Similarly, the future of medicare and universal access, stand on the brink o f a multi-tiered, p ro fit driv en , A m erican -sty le d isa ste r for Canadians. The New Democratic Party and a socially responsible M.P. like Willie Lambert is the best choice for Oakville. The Poem of the Unknown Soldier There once was a brave man with a big heart. He saved and helped people right from the start. He fought to save the people's lives, At the same tim e hearing weeps and cries. He saved more people than a few While through the air the bullets flew. Who he is we do not know, But our gratitute we will show. In that grave, he does lay And forever in our thoughts, he will stay. -A d a m Bem iker & Bryce Dakin K. Darby President Oakville and District Labour Council QEP student Remembrance play appreciated On Wed. Nov. 8th, my wife and I were invited to attend a drama put on by the grade 11 s tu d e n ts a t Q u e e n E liz a b e th P ark Secondary School. It was an annual contribu tion to the week of Remembrance. The p ro d u ctio n , under the direction o f Kelly Caldwell, their drama teacher, was very heart-warming to a veteran like me. A lot of effort must have been put into the play's pro duction and the acting was very professional. The Burl Oak Naval Veterans take plea sure in thanking the students o f this school for keeping alive the memory o f C anada's contribution to the preservation of our free dom during those dark days of the Second World War. Ray G. Richardson RCNVR paying its share by putting the onus on the companies. It is my understanding that the companies pay 1% to 1 1/2% to OHIP depend ing on the size of their payrolls. My husband was self-employed and I his employee. Before the Petersen edict, we each paid personally at least three times as much as we did after the payments were paid on my husband's small payroll. It is obvious that this state of affairs will not ever be changed for it would, no doubt, be suicide for the government that would try to do it. I, as a senior, like not paying and I am very grateful for the perks we receive. However, I do realize that the cost of OHIP is outrageous, and it is obvious that something will have to give. Prime minister, Jean Chretien, is not willing to discuss this dilemma in a civil way. His man ner is abrasive and he makes it clear to us that getting a third term in parliament is his only desire and he cares not how he achieves it. To any thinking person, it must be obvious when looking at Britain, the first country to embrace socialized medicine, that it is impossi ble to keep up the standards that were first envisaged in 1948. Canada does have the best system in the world but unless something is done about the funding, it will follow Britain's downward trend and from what I hear from my relatives, this would be a tragedy especially after being as spoiled as we are at present. The high tech equipment, the never ending supply of new drugs, the expanding population: where will it end? If we had no national debt, there would be no problem. However, the former liberal gov ernment that snowed us with money in the sev enties did not think of the future at all. I would hope that in view of this that Canadians would be mindful of the old adage: money does not grow on trees. Following Toronto Hydro's offer o f electricity at 5.65 cents/kWh (to local residents) comes Oakville H ydro's full-page ad in the Beaver, showing 4.2 cents/kWh. Don't believe it. My current O akville H ydro energy bill works out more than double at 8.69 cents per kWh. Neither figure appears on the bill. If you query these figures you are told that the difference is the transmission charge, then the tax. Just imagine this treatment at the gas pump. You fill up, then you are told "oh you have to pay double the posted price; there's a secret delivery charge, did nobody tell you?" There's enough room on the bill (and in the full page ad) for the honest truth, 8.69 cents/kWh. Indeed the bill contains about one hour of technical study if you are real curious; including the hard to read, pale grey small print on the back, usually reserved for the stuff that vendors would rather you didn't notice. Next time a phone company, insurance or any other company importunes you, don't expect to hear a simple honest price per unit that you can compare with other offers. You will usually be defeated by a convoluted even deceptive - pricing structure. And don't expect help from your toothless consumer protection laws. A rthur Holland P a rtie s la x on d e b t re d u ctio n The time is ripe for the em ergence o f a new party in ! Canada - `The Debt Abolition Party of Canada' perhaps under! the leadership of a frustrated, mild-mannered Bank of Canada; governor named Gordon Theissen. I have determined, after hearing Joe Clark's O ct 24th com -1 mitment to `legislate' a pay-off of the $565 billion national debt in 25 years starting with only $5 billion in each of the first five years of a Tory mandate that, at that pace, he will be hindering the standard of living off the children and grandchil dren of the baby-boomers. Paradoxically, I cannot compre hend how it is that the `$120 billion tax-slashing Alliance.' will pay off the accumulated debt in even 50 years with only $6 billion being allocated to debt retirement per annum. Then, we have a Liberal agenda to, of course, stay with the `status quo' of $3 billion per year, if the `contingency fund' isn't sapped away by a costly ice-storm, flood, or earthquake, with an expedient additional $10 billion lump-sum being applied to the debt in the 2000-2001 budget year. Provincially, the Harris Tories' plan to target $1 billion per annum to reduce a provincial debt near $100 billion is no less shameful! Personally, for a Canadian like myself fixated with the hap penings in the political arena, I am outraged by `preposterous ly meagre' efforts by Stockwell Day, Clark, (Jean) Chretien, and (Mike) Harris which equate to approximately a mere 1% reduction of the debt per year, a rate that may not extinguish `Canada's menacing mortgage' until the 22nd century. Then again, with their lavish government pensions, they will be `securely insulated' against the hardships I believe their negli gence and lack of foresight will foster. Do the Conservative, Liberal, and Canadian Alliance par ties not realize that the billions of our tax dollars that are pil laged to service a debt, that is by, in large, financed by for eigners, are going to be directly sought in the society of 20252050 by all the retiring, broken-hipped baby-boomers lining hospital corridors who'll contribute almost a third-less of the income-tax revenue to the federal coffers compared to what they did at the genesis of the 21st century? Betty A. Hansford P ud by Steve Nease , 'SPRINKLES I LUV T O O ,,, David C. Searle