The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Beaver THE OAKVILLE A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 52 No. 28 www.oakvillebeaver.com CELEBRATING 25 YEARS! Passionate about Lent ARTSCENE Between Kerr & Dorval YOUR FRIEND IN THE BUSINESS 175 Wyecroft Rd. Oakville 905.845.6653 www.lockwoodchrysler.com Realty Executives First Ltd. Brokerage Independently Owned & Operated 905 - 4 67- 4745 www.ltzylik.com Linda Tino-Zylik Broker FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009 40 Pages $1.00 (plus GST) "USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES" Take a deep breath Regional councillors to get 5.5% pay raise By Tim Foran METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP Ward 4 school trustee offers alternative Bateman-Olmstead wants more single-track FI schools By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The salaries, benefits and expenses paid to members of Halton's regional council rose slightly in 2008, to approximately $1.142 million, according to a report received for information by council's administration and finance committee last week. The total was about 1.6 per cent higher -- or $18,000 in real dollars -- than that doled out in 2007. That percentage is a bit higher than the 1.2 per cent inflation in the consumer price index for 2008 as indicated by Statistics Canada. The largest payment was made to Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr, who was paid $178,846 in salaries and benefits this past year, and was compensated for about $9,000 in expenses. Councillor salaries and benefits ranged from $41,340 to $46,170. However, councillors also receive salaries from the lower tier municipality they represent. The salaries and benefits paid out to council members will rise in 2009, as regional council last fall voted themselves a market adjustment raise to take effect as of Jan. 1 this year, to go along with their annual cost-of-living increase. The base salary of a regional councillor will rise 5.5 per cent to $42,804 from the current $40,550 and Carr's base salary will rise 3.2 per cent RIZIERO VERTOLLI / OAKVILLE BEAVER VICTORIAN SECRETS: Retired nurse Nancy MacLeod shows Angela Bosco, director of marketing at the Trafalgar Lodge Retirement Residence, how Victorian-era women would secretly improve their figures during a Victorian fashion show at the facility. Macleod hosted the show which featured numerous Victorian dresses modelled by seniors. For more photos, see page 8. Public school board trustees could have two sets of recommendations to choose from when they decide at the end of the month how to best solve accommodation problems at Oakville Ward 4 elementary schools. Three recommendations were presented at Wednesday night's meeting by Ruth Peden, associate director of education, on behalf of "One of the things this Director of board continues to work Education Wayne on is making kids feel safe Joudrie, who went home sick earlier in and making them feel like they belong in their the day. Joudrie's pro- schools." posed recommendations did not sit Kathryn Bateman-Olmstead, well with Oakville Ward 4 school trustee Ward 4 trustee Kathryn Bateman-Olmstead, who presented four of her own solutions that she intends to put before trustees on decision night at the next regular board meeting on March 25. Joudrie's first recommendation is for one single-track French immersion school (Ecole Forest Trail), two dualtrack schools (Pilgrim Wood and proposed new school Palermo) and five single-track English schools. This will be implemented on a graduated basis, starting with Grades 1-3 in September 2009 at Pilgrim Wood School and starting with Grades 1-4 in September 2010 at Palermo School. His second recommendation, which has been formally put forward for the first time, is that siblings of stu See Elgar page 5 See Parents page 2 End insurance confusion. For informed decisions that you can feel good about, contact us! We are pleased to offer competitive insurance solutions in person, by email, or fax. Your hotline to great insurance products & services: 905-845-9793 THE MAGNES GROUP INC. · Home www.magnesgroup.com 1540 Cornwall Rd., Suite #100, Oakville, ON L6J 7W5 Tel: 905-845-9793 Fax: 905-845-9149 The Magnes Group Inc. has its roots in Syd A. Vince Insurance, Est. 1953 · Auto · Life · Business ·