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

AIS - The Canadian Champion, Friday, May 26, 2006 OPINION Down to the wire If the Minisîry ut' Education isn'l prcpared lu put ils schuui-ltinding polies' where lits mnuih has hecît iii recei years. il sitould ai teasi have the decenex' lu admit its laîlîng public edticaîion it Nation. Saitce beiitg cleciecl in lte fait ut 2003, Dtontî McGuîitss i îeî aI guveronteni lts said l i uc i igt îhîîtgs reg.tîdittg îte\s' scilttu tuncting ut Oi'ntario. but lias uttere i tlle iii Iack tip tîtuse ss'rds. Iflihas heen .tlittusî 30 mntnhs silîce thecst îcîc I ibci aIs placeci a moratoriunm on scîtout clotut s. Ai fltc lime. the anitutincemenl catrne as enurîttous ictiet 10 olcier îteighhotirhoods wheie esitbtislied scitols voiih declinîng enrolment wvere heîîîg targeleci for clusure. Wshile tc policy ut fice presiotis Totry gos ertimeit - wheie school ciostîres had tu occur in order ru tigger enough pupîl spaces bo justifs' new scitool graruts - might hase made sense on some bureauîcratie iedger iî pitteci estah- lished neiglihourhoods againsi new unes as parents focîghî îoh and naît to keep their schouts. Ptting its faith it the McGuiitty gos'ernmneni. the fialton Distnric Sehuol Board remained catiicusly optirnislic an împros'ed sehool fcînding poiicy wotild be forîhcorning. Lasi week that good faîîh ran otrt. "11 is an untenabte situation," public sehoot tnîstees were told last week by Steven Parfenîuk, supernîendent of hbusi- ness for the board. The senior admînisîrator said between 1999 and 2006 more than 8,000 pupîl spaces were creaîed in Hatton îhrough the construction of 13 new sehools. Howes'er, sînce the board hasn't ciosed anv sehoots recenîtly it faces a $2.6-mittion shorîfali beîween the cost of the new sehools and the grants îî receîved to buîid îhem. Parfeniuk fears the debt couid jeopardize future schoots for high-growth neighbourhoods in Milton, Burtîngion, Oaks'ille and Halton His - inctuding six new etementarv sehoots in five years. If the debt lis erased, Padfenuk betieves a gap between allocated capital grant money and the cosî of modemn sehools would likely mean the boards next sehools ssiti be huiî without such features as muiti-purpose rooms, auditoriums, science and technoiogy labs and air-conditioning. Wohtle the Tories' school-ttîndîng formula resuiîed in fltc ugliness of sehool boards has-ung to nip the heari oui of neîgh- bourhoods by ciosing their sehools, the I iberal sx'stem seems to put new neîghbourhoods ai risk of being withocit a schoot. If this is the best the Lîberats can ofier, the Halton District School Boards abilîîv lu keep pace ss-uth the regions gruwth is in seriotis jeopardy. RKeaders Write,, Send your lettars to ltoned@hatons-each om or drop thein off at 875 Main At E. Hospital parking should be free DEAR EDITOR: After sisiting a friend in the hospitat lateiy, t was agaîn reminded of my, pet peeve in the tasi few years. M'hat kind of society have we becomne that we charge the loved ones and fniends of sick patients t0 park ait our so-calied great huspitais? How can any political person stand by' without doing something ahout this practîce? Hov dues anv one whos part of ihis practice look ai themselves i the irror? \\'C're hurting the people ,,%ho need help, hitting them wiîth a not-too-small parking fee while rhey're down. Our taxes paîd for and maintain these hospitals. whîch in many cases are os'er-staffed with os'erpaid adminis- trative personnel - probaby t0 make sure the parking fees are cotlected. 1 helieve its turne for the public tu speak up on ihîs kînd of money-mak- îng practice. which hurts the people thai are atready hurîîng. Speak up, peo- pie. its turne tu hear from the ittle gus's. AI LISK MILTON lebtr Canabîain cEWumpion M n n nit yNespp, tSi' 1860 875 Main St. E. Milton, Ont. L9T 3Z3 905-878-2341 Eclîtonal Fax- 905-878-4943 Advertîsîng Fax: 905-876-2364 Classified:905 875-3300 Cuiculation 905-878-5947 swww.rnîltonc-anadianocharnpion.com Publisher: Ian Oliver Associate Pubtîsher t lil 0lî'iqr Advertising Director Vin-'irqI M(îlïlro Managing Editor Knoni"n Smith Production Manager Tîrt Cules Circulation Manager Charlenie Hall Office Manager Teri Casas The Canadian Gumpion, puîblalue eveuy Tuesday and Fviday ait 875 Main St E., Mihton, Ont, L9T 3Z3, as one of thme Meroland Pring, Publishieg & Diitîlbuing Ltd. conmmîîniiy niemeuppe tAoetoîa so acoipted on the coSias lSa, tf ediopeof a rflYpotala esro ha! podion of te aoeoos opae oooopoed oy the esfoneous e te itha a reasooaatie al5owase so 9cia be paid fora! ose apçolcabl faie The puorsoer !eseNte 5 hi to calegosos aaossosenssoor ein CCAB Audited Recmr;oooz(ld tor eso o'lo'r by Dnt5soo aro Aonnso C NA ,a adian nlt ewpppNAsopiatir Upf rontzà Future guit w44ll be tough to bear for oemeteiy vandals I ike most Mittonians. 1 was quite upset by last voeek's vandalism ai Evergreen Cemeterv - the second such incident in Iess thana montb. Now l'm not here to delîver a verbal scold- îng to those involved, whomn 1 cari only assume are members of our teenage popula- tion. Any such effort on îny part would be a tad bit hypocritical. No, 1 neyer did anytbing as lite as dese- crating someones final restitsg place - God forbid - or even cause many of the other types of damnage that are often reported in our weekly police blotter section. But growing up in Milton in the '80s, 1 certainly wasn't immune to the occasionat act of stupidity. Despite having great parents and no emo- tional problems to speak of, every now and then 1 would find myseif part of some moron- ic actuvity like whipping snowballs ai passing motorists or peppering bouses witb eggs on the eve of Haloween (aka, Devil's Night). And %,,hile alcohol wasn't ins uved, there wsere a couple of incidents ss'îth the faînily car that were deserving of an> colourful aitack on my intelligence you could pos- sibly think of.( 1 suppose 1 could write tbis off as simple miaspent youth. right? 1 htîng with a bad crowd. Lots of teens do that kind of thing. M'hile centainly cons'enient, 1 can't let myself off the hook like that. Rationalizatîons are jutîs way 100 easy Bottom fine is that while i was basically a good kid, there were limes when i reaily crossed a fine - and even put myseif and others in harm's way - sîmply because 1 couldn't see beyond myseif or the next few mites. With my cloak of ignorance long since lifted, l'm able to do that now. And while for- tunately i don't have anything te, be genuine- ly ashamed of, 1 don't feel toc, good about bh some of the asiine siunts i once pulled. 1I can oniy imagine the gui these cerne- tens s atdals are going lu have 10 carry around ilvth themn in latter life - when they finaliy mature. So on the off chance that any misguided youths are readîng this - either voluntarily; or ait mom or dads request - heres a lîtîle liee ads-ice that coud hc S quite s-aiuabie one day If you recognîze yourself in any of ihis ty-pe of hehaviour seemîingiy petty or nul - just stop it. Stop because theres more to thînk abo ut than yoti and your buddies' entertairment. Stop because your parents don't deserve the potentiai grief, Stop because you're hurting others. Stop because y'ou mîght actually gel caught. And if for no other reason, Stop because your future self wili hate you if you dont. liv % UNITED WAY OF M ILTON TY AUCTION d, Shosca.seN'Iliton - no' G, i IA 4~uoadý