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Guest ColumnistThe Oakville Beaver467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742The 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 theYar to py down debtcondition 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 thee arptipselimcaebnletsE dr iaotortriae l da.nTde ahcdvleirtn ispienug. cbonlteinst ohf teher O arkevilsleerves the right to categorize advBeaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Terence Young, Oakville MPNEIL OLIVERVice-President and Group Publisher,MARK DILLSDirector of Production Metroland WestMANUEL GARCIAProduction Managerappy New Year to you and your family. We have manyDAVID HARVEY Regional General ManagerCHARLENE HALLDirector of Distributionreasons to be optimistic in 2011. I have been back inJILL DAVISEditor in ChiefSARAH MCSWEENEYCirc. ManagerHOakville since mid-December and have had an oppor-ROD JERREDManaging EditorWEBSITE oakvillebeaver.comtunity to meet with many of you. DANIEL BAIRDAdvertising DirectorThe OakvilleBeaver is a division ofInterestingly, no one has told me we need an election andRIZIERO VERTOLLIPhotography DirectorTerence YoungPrime Minister Stephen Harper has said he will not call one.SANDY PAREBusiness ManagerThe only person calling for an election is Liberal LeaderRECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY:Michael Ignatieff who recently announced the Liberals will vote against the comingOntario Community Canadian Community Suburban NewspapersNewspapers AssociationNewspapers Associationof Americabudget before it is even written. Apparently, it is more important to Mr. Ignatieff to havea $300 million election than to have a reason why. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR:Stephen Harper has now become the longest-serving minority prime minister in ourhistory. He accomplished this by making sure all our major legislative proposals areUnited Way of Oakvilleapproved by enough members of the Opposition to pass, no simple feat. The result isATHENAthat after the worldwide recession, Canadas economy is the strongest of the G7. OurAwarddeficit-to-GDP ratio is the lowest. More Canadians are working today than before therecession. Our banking system is the envy of the world. The federal budget will be bal-anced by 2014 (possibly before) and we will begin to pay down debt again. By 2012 ourdiminishing corporate tax rate will be the lowest in the G7, attracting 90,000 more jobsthis year alone. As we improve the climate for investment, jobs will follow.Yet our economy is not out of the woods. Although two per cent lower than in theU.S, Canadas unemployment rate is still at an unacceptable 7.6 per cent. We need yearsof solid growth and responsible fiscal management to create more jobs and reachCanadas full potential. We will continue to cut spending to balance our budget.Ministers and MPs pay and budgets will continue to be frozen. All ministry operatingbudgets will be cut by five per cent. Administrative reviews will find more savings.Quality of life for Canadian families is our focus, and unlike the previous govern-ment, that cut $3 billion a year in funding to the provinces for health care and educa-tion to balance its budget, we will not cut funding to the provinces. Federal transfer pay-ments and health care funding to the provinces are the highest ever, and health fund-ing increases automatically by 6 per cent a year, for the first time in history.Since 2006 the average federal family tax burden is $3,000 lower, including loweringthe GST. Yet many of you are concerned your income is not keeping up with the costof living. The key reason is the 60 per cent increase in spending by the McGuinty gov-ernment, along with the health tax, Eco Tax, HST and huge increases in hydro costs. Forexample, I recently bought a TV for $300 and had to pay a $26.25 Eco Tax and $42.41HST a 23 per cent hit.CHANTAL AYOTTE / OAKVILLE BEAVERMy concern is that within a few years home ownership in Oakville could become outof reach for most people. We may be facing a perfect storm. First, mortgage rates willGIFT OF SUPPORT: Tom Altobello,sales associate and campaign organizer for Acura of Oakville,left,alongsoon start rising. Second, experts tell me that hydro rates could double in the next fewwith the dealerships general manager Carmen Scaglione,right,hand over a $2,500 cheque to Judi Perry Brinkert,years. Third, provincial and local taxes keep going up. regional director of Wellspring Halton-Peel.The proceeds came from a pledge to donate $100 from every car soldSee To page 7during December to Wellsprings Light Up campaign in support of Wellsprings programs for cancer patients.Imagining the season of the imagination on a sunny beachimagination, when we invent stories. WeThey say Canadians need the seasons to survive (bringing changets 7:01 on a Saturday morning. Ive hydrated and stretched.need winter to reflect, to sit in darkness,and variety to our lives). I agree. Id go nuts in vanilla sameness. IIm ready to run. Now, Im just waiting for the sun to rise. Ito deal with the ghosts of the past. Andlove spring and adore autumn. But winter, dare I say, leaves meIrefuse to run in darkness: youd have to be completely crazy tothen we can move forward.cold.jog on slick and hilly country roads in winter before sunrise. And,Although there are snow-stormyIndeed there would be wintry moments Id miss. I love walk-as those who know me will attest, Im not completely crazy.days when I question whether the seasoning across a fresh snow-covered landscape on a clear, crisp winterIts part of my general dislike of winter that I always seemis truly disappearing, I do agree that win-day. I love building a roaring fire and cocooning for an afternoon.to be waiting for something beyond my control. The sun to cometer is important, and that we need a peri-But that is winter in the ideal. Winter in reality, is more stuck inup. The weather to clear. The temperature to rise to a level thatod each year when we are effectivelytraffic, fishtailing, wondering whether the ones you love are safe,allows me to venture outside without my eyelids freezing shut. Andy Juniperforced to reflect. and whether youll ever get to where you need to go.I know, I know, as a born-and-bred Canadian, I shouldStill, I have to wonder whether the setting for such reflectionIn the winter of his life, my father often advised me to neverembrace winter. It is, after all, the season that defines us. Whileneeds to be so depressingly dark, and whether my body reallywish away a single second of life, to live each moment to theIm not someone who shies from winter and hibernates I stayneeds to be chilled to the core for such reflection to occur; hon-fullest and refrain from spending too much time looking ahead.as outdoorsy and active as possible I doubt I will ever be ableestly, could I not stare at my navel as efficiently on a sun-bakedIts advice I tend to follow. Except in winter.to say that Im a fan. Winter just gets in the way of the way I likeisland off the coast of nowhere, with palm trees replacing pineOn a Saturday morning, the sun slowly rises. I head out for myto live. trees, the ocean within view, and sand between my toes? I mean,run, dressed in layers, ice underfoot, each step an adventure. I tryTwo years ago, Gordon Matthew Sumner (a.k.a. Sting)do people living in the tropics not get all imaginative, not inventto embrace the experience, but a little voice in the back of myreleased If On A Winters Night, an album chronicling, romanti-stories? head whispers: Nine weeks until spring. cizing and honouring winter, or what the musician calls hisHonestly, Sting: let me deal with the ghosts of my past with aAndy Juniper can be visited at www.strangledeggs.com, con-favorite season.potent island libation in hand.tacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, or followed atWinter, he said in Zoomermagazine, is hugely important,People say that I would soon grow to miss our bracing winters.www.twitter.com/thesportjesters. and its disappearing with global warming. Its the season of thewww.oakvillebeaver.com OAKVILLE BEAVERThursday, January 20, 2011 6