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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday May 24,2000 T h e O a k v il l e B eaver OPINION RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Ian Oliver Publisher Nei Oliver Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kety Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crazier Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Mark Dlls Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director o f Photography Metroiand Printing. Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser. AAiston HeralcVCouner. Barrie Advance. Barry's Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise, Brampton Guardian. Burlington Rost, Burlington Shopping News. City Parent, CoiSngwood/Wasaga Connection. East Mork Mirror. Erin Advocate/Country Routes. Etobicoke Guardan, Flamborough Rost. Georgetown Independent/Actxi Free Press. Huronia Business Tmes, Kingston This Week. Lindsay This Week. Markham Ecnomist & Sun, M idland/Penetanguishine Mirror. M ilton Canadian Champion. Milton Shopping News. Mississauga Business Tmes, Mississauga News. Napanee Guide. Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner. Northumberland News. North \brk Mirror. Oakv/fle Beaver. OakviBe Shopping News. O dtm ers Hockey News. O riia Today, Oshawa/Whitfcy/Clarington Port Perry This Week. O ven Sound Tribune. P eterborough This W eek, Picton C ounty Guide. Richmond Hill/Thomhill/'raughan Liberal. Scarborough Mirror. Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Nbung, City of Mxk Guardan THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: §*C N A . Canadian Community Newspapers Association 467 Speers Rd., Oakville O n t L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 C | k r % Suburban Newspapers 0 1 ^ § of America THE BRONTE iUTTERFLY C M r / F in d | oakville galleries! E d ito ria ls Stockwell' s folly With barely one week to go until the would-be leaders of the Canadian Alliance Party appear on stage in Oakville, Stockwell Day is boldly going off in areas that many would rather see left alone. Chief among these dangerous zones is the But at least when issue of extending government funding to all religious schools. former Ontario We've been down this road in Ontario and Progressive it has meant chaos and fiscal woes. Conservative leader and B u t at le a s t w h en fo rm e r O n ta rio Premier, Bill Davis Progressive Conservative leader and Premier, B ill D av is th re w o p en eq u a l fu n d in g to threw open equal Catholic school boards, he had some basis in funding to Catholic law. If people questioned his motives, Davis school boards, he had could point to the British North America Act, some basis in law. thereby absolving him self of responsibilities for the action. W hat followed was predictable. Scores of schools based on religious beliefs thought the Davis decision would be their salvation too. Wrong. Once again, the BNA Act held sway and that was the end of it....but to hear Stockwell Day, one can only conclude that every school that offered up reli gion as its basis for being, would be given government monies. Day is a fundamentalist Christian and as such, often wears this religion on his sleeve as a badge of courage. And while he may receive some support from religious quarters, the fact remains that such a move as Day suggests, would be prohibitively costly and throw our education system into another tailspin. Our educational system isn't perfect but to open up this Pandora's Box of religious school funding would be a grave mistake. W nK (WC A N A D IA N S \S C O M P L E T E L Y , SECURE,,, O FBITS O FP E R SO N A L f e W J THE PUIOHS ^ ) Letters to the Editor 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, O n t L6K 3S4 Premier gets some tips on how to handle teachers Dear Premier Harris: P lease accept my c o n g ra tu la tio n s on th e w ay in w h ic h you have m anaged to pin those ra s c a lly te a c h e rs u n d e r y o u r thumb. T a k in g a w a y th e r i g h t to n e g o tia te any a s p e c t o f th e ir w o rk in g c o n d itio n s , an d rem o v in g the rig h t to a p p e a l any o f y o u r d e c is io n s to the courts, gets rid o f those annoy ing dem ocratic inconveniences to efficient m anagem ent. H o w e v e r, th e re a p p e a rs to be an u p co m in g p ro b lem that y o u h a v e n o t y e t a d d re s s e d . D istu rb in g re p o rts are b e g in n i n g t o s u r f a c e in th e p re s s th e s e d a y s a b o u t a lo o m in g s a la ry in c r e a s e s to O n ta r io te a c h e rs , an d th e y c e r ta in ly would not approve o f you eas ing up on the controls you have placed on them in the past few days. You could use your legisla tive pow er to m uzzle the m edia and suppress reporting o f these stories, but that could alienate a significant core o f your sup port. I believe you m ust m ove q u ic k ly to p re v e n t a su d d e n ing injuries are by no means limited to young chil large scale exodus o f teachers. dren. The most common cause of death in children and adults under the age o f 44 is not cancer of heart To this effect, I recom m end the disease, but traum a resulting from a preventable follow ing steps. P a ss l e g is la tio n q u ic k ly injury. m aking resignation illegal. It can happen to you and it can happen to your Prohibit teachers from trav child. In a split second, life can change forever. D on't find yourself wishing you had taught your e llin g o u tsid e O n tario at any children to think first before they act. Teach them time. P la c e lie n s on a ll te a c h e r today. properties im m ediately to pre Before you go near the water "Think First" vent them from selling or oth · never dive in shallow water erw ise disposing o f it. (M ay I · never throw anyone into the water · never dive without checking the water depth say th a t th is a c tio n d o n e to w e lf a r e r e c ip ie n ts w a an first inspired move.) · never swim alone · never swim near boats Y ou m ig h t a ls o c o n s id e r requiring them to affix an iden · never go in a boat without your lifejacket · never run on a deck tify in g sy m b o l to th e ir o u te r · never go in a boat with someone who's been clothing to be worn at all tim es drinking alcohol w h en th e y a re o u ts id e th e ir Before you leave the house "Think First" homes. M ight I suggest a gold · always wear a bike helmet en la m p o f le a r n in g . T h is · always obey traffic safety rules w ould have the double advan · always look both ways before you cross the tage o f k eep in g tab s on th e ir street m o v e m e n ts an d o f is o la tin g · never run between parked cars them fu rth e r from the rest o f · never chase your ball into the street society so they can be used as · never touch a gun s c a p e g o a ts w h en th e n e x t Dr. Charles Tator, C .M ., M .D ., M.A., inevitable recession comes. Ph.D., FRCSD F or fu rth er ideas, I reco m President m en d to yo u b o o k s by A la n Think First Canada B u llo c k , M a rtin G ilb e r t, Ed. note: O ne of C anada's leading neurosurgeons W illia m S h ire r o r any o th e r and researchers in the field of spinal cord injury and r e p u ta b le h is to r ia n w ho h as re g e n e ratio n . In January, 2000, he w as app oin ted a covered the political history o f M em ber of the Order of Canada. Readers interested in G erm any in the 1930's. finding out more about the TD Think First program can call 1-800-335-6076 (www.thinkfirst.org). Letter of the W eek teacher shortage throughout the E n g lis h -s p e a k in g w o rld , and about rather dram atic increases in teacher com pensation pack ages south o f the border. It is d o u b tf u l th a t th e O ntario taxpayers would toler ate your governm ent a ttem p t ing to com pete with these ju ris d ic tio n s by o f f e r in g la rg e Ontario Legislature just a rubber stamp At last it's o ffic ia l-M ik e H arris is contem pt of the L e g islatu re. S p eak er G ary C arr says so. Well duh! as the kids say. A nyone who has been paying any attention to our ow n little backw oods M ussolini fo r the last five years co u ld have to ld G ary that. Right from the start, H arris has put the boot to the L egislature's dem ocratic processes. T h e re w ere the b ills ram m ed th ro u g h w ithout proper d ebate--som etim es even the Tory M PPs were not given tim e to read them before voting. T here w ere the bills allow ing the Prem ier extensive power to bypass the L eg islatu re's scrutiny, thereby reduc in g th e L e g is la tu re to little m o re than a ru b b e r stam p . T h e re 's the law th a t m akes a tru stee who v o te s a g a in s t g o v e r n m e n t p o lic ie s a c rim in a l. C ontem pt for our dem ocratic system ? H arris scarce ly even bothers to hide it. Look at his own behaviour in the Legislature. He appears in the cham ber only about 35% o f the time to answ er the questions o f O n tario 's elected repre sentatives. A nd w hen he does bother to show up, he falls into an uncontrollable rage because the Leader o f Her M ajesty's Loyal O pposition dares to question him! W hat an outrage that elected representatives of the people should have the tem erity to question our g lo rio u s F u e h re r! (A n d d o n 't b lam e m e fo r the H itler an alo g y --it's Tory insiders who call H arris' office `the B unker.' N eed I say m ore?) Twice in so m any w eeks S p e a k e r C arr has had to th reaten to th ro w him o u t fo r in s u ltin g M r. (L ib e ra l leader D alton) M cG uinty during Q uestion Period. F o r c itiz e n s , th e s e tw o m o m e n ts o f H a rris 's u n b ridled fury p rovide in valuable in sights. If you w ant to know w hat a professional politician is real ly like, you m ust study the rare occasions when the m ask slips, w hen he is taken off balance, when you catch him in the raw. In those glim pses we get the real M ike H a rris --a rro g a n t, b u lly in g , te rm in a lly nasty. M ost revealing o f all, perhaps, is the sheer banal ity o f the m ind behind the insults. Even as an insulte r --let m e use h is ow n ju v e n ile e x p re s s io n --he s tin k s. H e in s u lts lik e a 1 2 -y ear-o ld k id --a very repellent 12-year-old kid who ought to be suspend ed. H is se c o n d in su lt o f M c G u in ty --re fe rrin g to M cG uinty's dead father--was as dirty and mean as any junkyard dog. No wit, no hum our, no irony, no gleam o f intelligence, no class. Just rage and bile. L e t's face it, the a n ti-d em o cratic, authoritarian nature o f H arris and his governm ent is no big secret, and no big surprise. To anyone w ho has read even a sm idgen o f 20th century history, his style and his m entality are depressingly fam iliar. U nfortunately, as the history books also tell us, there w ill alw ays be people w ho adm ire those who beat up on the defenceless w hile sucking up to the pow erful. Such a m entality is sim ply not com patible with the true spirit o f dem ocracy. I fear that many of H a r r is ' m o st fe rv id su p p o rte rs w o rsh ip him , not despite o f his contem pt for our dem ocratic institu tions, but because o f it. M e s s a g e to c h ild r e n . t h i n k f i r s t Sum m er is such a w onderful tim e o f year in Canada -- a time for boating, swimming, biking and rollerblading. It's also a tim e for terrible injuries, when families are tom apart as the result of a pre ventable tragedy. Thanks to the TD Bank Financial Group, spon sors o f the "TD T hink First For K ids" program , we're getting the word out to young people and par ents that accidents resulting in terrible injuries or even death are preventable. The Think First program was conceived as a way to educate children about injury prevention. Through curriculum-based classroom instruction created by the Think First Foundation, children learn in school how to play and act safely to avoid brain and spinal injuries. It is my belief that 99 per cent of all injuries can indeed be preven ted . T eaching the sim plest Think First rules to children can protect them from turning summer fun into summer tragedy. This summer, we want as many young people as possible to hear the message and think before they act -- before it's too late. Each year, beginning in spring, we begin to see the First of many brain and spinal cord injuries from diving. Each year, over 37,000 new brain and spinal cord injuries occur, costing the medical system as much as $4-million for one 10-year-old child. | The focus o f the TD Think First For Kids pro gram is children in Grades 1-3. We've chosen that age group, as it's crucial that young children and their parents develop think first habits as early as possible. When children grasp prevention at an early age, "Think First habits" become part of their every day behaviour. Our research shows beyond a doubt that children have insufficient knowledge about how accidents occur or how to prevent them. We also know that children can reduce the risk of brain and spinal cord injuries by participating in the program. Our program and the prevention of life-threaten G eorge B re tt Pud i by Steve Nease I I drawed a PITCHER OF p ? i t a 1 MX FRIENDS ATTINYTIKES SCHOOL, DAP/ PIS IS KATIE, AN 'DIE 15 TAMES. JAMES is A BOY, BUT KATIE'S NOT,.. ? ---------- V 7 ^ * - -H e's A g ir l . a t e s nr * G eorge P atrick