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The Oakville BeaverLetter to the Editor467 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 thecondition 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 chargedBill C-393 died in Senatefor, 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 theOakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.I am so deeply disappointed and angry that certain Conservative senators didNEIL OLIVERVice-President and Group Publisher,MARK DILLSDirector of Productionnot see fit to pass Bill C-393 swiftly after it was democratically passed by a largeMetroland WestMANUEL GARCIAProduction Managermajority in the House of Commons, on March 9, 2011.DAVID HARVEY Regional General ManagerCHARLENE HALLDirector of DistributionJPrime Minister Stephen Harper and Industry Minister Tony Clement, bothILL DAVISEditor in ChiefSARAH MCSWEENEYCirc. ManagerROD JERREDManaging EditorWEBSITE oakvillebeaver.comcontinued sending messages to the Senate with inaccuracies and misrepresenta-DANIEL BAIRDAdvertising Directortions.The Oakville Beaver is a division ofRIZIERO VERTOLLIPhotography DirectorThese have been refuted time and time again yet they continued spreadingSANDY PAREBusiness Managerthis information. How shameful.RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY:Ontario CommunityCanadian Community Suburban NewspapersAs a result of the stalling tactics of the Conservative senators, thousands of Newspapers AssociationNewspapers Associationof Americapeople, especially women and children, will die of treatable diseases such asTHE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR:AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis (TB).These are not faceless statistics.They are Modesta, 22 years old, who lives in Kenya, and arrives at the clinicUnited Wayof Oakvilleto have her second child. ATHENAErnest was born with AIDS and only lived two weeks. AwardThis could have been prevented if Modesta had been given the proper medica-tion, medication we have in Canada.They are Patricia, 19, who lives in Malawi, and has TB.She cant afford the medicine. She will die.They are Effie, who is 17 years old and lives Zambia. She has malaria and alsocant afford medicine.Because of this disease, she misses school a lot.Unable to get an education, what will her future be like?It is a travesty that the Harper government, having made much of its initia-tive on maternal and child health, would turn its back on an opportunity tohelp people dying of treatable diseases and in a fashion that would cost notaxpayer money, in fact, would make Canadas foreign aid dollars even moreeffective.As Senator Lowell Murray said, The government deliberately blocked thisbills progress, including a final adjournment in the name of Senator LarrySmith, who then disappeared from the Chamber and now intends to resign andrun for election to the House of Commons in the Lac-Saint-Louis, Quc rid-ing.After nearly seven years of waiting for Canada to deliver on its pledge to helpSUBMITTED PHOTOget more affordable medicines to Africa and other developing countries, theworld will still have to wait.READY FOR EMERGENCIES:Ready4Life (R4L) of Support & Housing-Halton has helped more than 50People will die preventable deaths because too many Conservative senatorsindividual homeless or at-risk of being homeless youths in Oakville and Burlington by reaching out to the youthsdid not have the courage to do the right thing.and bridging the gap between them and adult support systems. The R4L staff and youths at risk recently thankedThank you for your continued coverage of Bill C-393.Prosperity One Credit Union for a $1,000 donation for an emergency fund for R4L participants in an emergency Lorraine Green,situation. From left, Leslie MacMillan, branch administrator, Burlington Prosperity One Credit Union John Smith,oomama,executive director, Support & Housing-Halton; Mike Shepherd, president and CEO Prosperity One; Jenny Rattray, OakvilleYouth Outreach co-ordinator, R4L and Lexie Vickers, youth outreach co-ordinator, R4L.It's spring and the (sporting) bloom is coming off the roseor sports fans, this time of year is usually blissful. Hockey and strike hit home. With all the true turmoil labour wars. Oh, and recently I came upon an article that basicallybasketball playoffs are just around the corner, as are The in the world, it seemed to just boil down stated: if you watch the NFL and Im a huge fan you are aFMasters and The Kentucky Derby. to rich owners battling rich players to see willing participant in the slow, systematic slaying of the gladiatorsThis weekend alone features the finale of March Madness bas-who would end up, ah, richer.who play the game; young men who, studies are revealing, invari-ketball, and a brand-new season of Major League Baseball opening When owners and players again locked ably suffer the assorted slings and arrows of repeated brain trauma:in earnest at parks around the league.horns in 1994, I gave up on baseball. The early onset dementia, depression and premature death.So why is this sports fan not feeling the usual euphoria? sport was dead to me. I went from being Its spring. I love to smell the (sporting) roses, but, increasingly,Normally, by the end of March and on into April and May, theres baseball obsessed to not watching a single sadly, the bloom seems to be coming off the rose.anticipation overload in the air I breathe, and a sporting spring in game for more than five years.P.S. Further to last weeks column on our horse who fracturedAndy Junipermy step. While I am indeed watching assorted sports with interest, Now you see just how little tolerance I his pelvis in a freak accident, leaving us with unenviable options:I find my usual fanaticism somewhat tempered.have for sports messing with me, because put him down, or commit him to complete stall rest for one yearA little background: I grew up a sports nut. My father loved all I take it personally. And I take it hard.and hope for recovery. Last week, Apollo suffered a further setback,sports and my mother was a baseball fanatic. Yeah, I grew up with Fast forward to recent years. And suddenly I find the real world and possibly a second fracture. In essence, making our decision forsports and realized early on how social, pleasurable and therapeu-with a chokehold on the sports world.us.tic a release from reality sports can be.Take Tiger Woods and Michael Vick and Brett Favre, and Not When I saw him for the last time, he was in rough shape,Im sure that when I was a kid, reality must have occasionally wanting to shoot the messenger, but its no secret that sports soaked in stress-sweat, and heavily sedated although awareknocked on the door of the sporting world. But I never answered. scandals are media-driven. Dont ever think that sports stars of enough to (adorably) try and nudge me into coughing up any car-No, I managed to keep separate the fantasy world of sports and the yesteryear were scandal-free; their indiscretions were simply not rots I might have hidden under my coat. RIP Apollo. rest of real life. However, for me, those separate worlds collided reported or, at least, not covered 24-7.Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found onwith the baseball strike in 1981.Further, weve also endured the steroid scandal in baseball (and Facebook http://www.facebook.com, or followed at www.twitter.com/Even though there had been previous work stoppages, that other sports). Vicious, nauseating headshots in hockey. More thesportjesters.www.insideHALTON.com OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, March 31, 2011 6