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

Saturday, December 25, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A7 Cute, but where are my school supplies? "Ontario will be in good shape in 2020. My cats will be bigger. Our teacher will take a break and the Robots will take over. Hearts will be filled with joy." The preceding was what sevenyear-old Mitzi Clark, Ottawa- from H EY ^ C a r 1e t o n Stephanie Region, had MacLellan to say about the future. That's cute, and terrific, and I really wish Mitzi all the best with her cats. Now, do you think I could get a text book that isn't falling apart? The Ontario government, in its infi nite wisdom, has decided it would be a good idea to print up "My Ontario" books as "The Millennium M emento." In these full-colour volumes, students from across Ontario -- mainly young school children like little Mitzi -- share their visions for the province of Ontario in the year 2020, expressed through drawings, writings, or even songs. There are also several blank pages devoted to "M em ories" and "Autographs." That's also cute, but I don't see much appeal for anyone over the age of 10. Nonetheless, these books are being distributed to students of all ages cross the province. The cost of this project is upwards of $2-million. To me, $2-million seems like a hefty investment for a government who, earlier this year, wanted to slash m illions from the already beleaguered education budget. This leaves hundreds of students asking the same question: How can a government that cuts trem endous amounts of money from one o f our most vital ministries, education, justify dropping $2-million on what is essen tially a public relations exercise? It would be different if these books were being sold. That way, people who were interested in having a copy could buy one, and no one else would have to worry about it. The sales profits from the book could go back into the educa tion system, to reward the students who contributed to it. You've likely seen the stories on the news by now, showing loads of "My Ontario" books being dumped at the Premier's office. I know many students are planning similar retum-to-sender actions. There's no shortage of extra books lying around to aid in making the statement. Just today, the first day these books were distributed, I found three lying on the ground in the hall ways of my school, covered with dirty footprints. Maybe someone at Queen's Park will be able to utilize these books, since high school students are obvious ly having a hard time finding a use for them. I realize "My Ontario" has already been published, but here's my vision for the Province's future, if the spend ing priorities o f this government aren't rectified: . "In the year 2 0 2 0 ,1 will be 3 8 .1 will have just finished paying off my stu dent loans. I will have given up on the education system after my children's class sizes exceeded 45. Instead, they will be home-schooled by a former teacher, forced into early retirement because of cutbacks. Children "educat ed" during the Harris regime will be running our province; or should I say, running it into the ground. At least, they'll still have their cute Millennium books to remind everyone how idealis tic they once were." IMPORTANT AUCTION SALES NOTICE Sunday, Dec. F I N E M E N ' S W E A R 183 Lakeshore Road East, O akville, ON L6J 1 H5 Telephone (905) 845-8911 389 Brant Street, Burlington, ON L7R 2E9 Telephone (905) 639-6165 26 (Boxing Day) at 10:30 am O u r annual Boxing D a y Antique Sale featuring great furniture, glass & china, grandfather dock, cranberry pickle cruet, oil b m ps, hanging lamps, quilts, Beswick horses, Hummels, primitives & col lectibles. Preview & registration w ill start at 9:00am for this sale SALE H O U R S CLOSED SUNDAY December 26th Family Day OPEN MONDAY December 27lh 9:00a m -6:00p m N E X T SALE New Year's Day, Jan. 1, 2000 at 11:30 am FOR BARB A G O R D R A N K The Rank's 18th Annual N e w Year's D a y Sale of quality antiques & collectibles. A sale everyone looks forward to. Previewing & registration start at 9:30am . Both sales to be held in the Agricultural Hall on Robert St,, Milton Fairgrounds, Milton, Ont. Auctioneer - Don Colling (905) 877-0117 . L E T S G E T O R G A N I Z E D !!! CUSTOM CLOSET ORGANIZER W ITHBONUS SH OESH ELF S T A C K A S H E IL F O N T A R IO 'S O N L Y F U L L L IN E s i a c k A s h e l f q u t i FT? UM 8" Deep Bookcases Slight Imperfections · Misdrilled · Laminate Defects · YO U SAVE! S T A C K A S H E L F S e co n d Shelves COMPUTER FURNITURE All sizes 3/4" Melamine furniture shown various finishes. WE HAVE FACTORY 2NDS WE M U ST CLEAR! 991 j Stacking furniture modules Discontinued Stackables E x tra 5% Off o n a ll S a u d e r F u r n it u r e P ro d u c ts In - s t o c k o n ly Ideal for toys, albums, microwaves! q 50% 4 days o n ly i l U .y e 2 4 "W x 3 1 .5 " x 8 " D Excludes 1021-1026 Collection v each w hite o r oak k o n s tru c ta 2111 DUNWIN DRIVE, MISSISSAUGA i (West of Erm Mills PVwy Corner of Ounv/m Dr across from DeBoers) | furniture k I t * 7*"-* &shelving | k i 8 2 0 -3 2 4 1 Dundas St. W. MON -WED . 10-6THURS-FRI 10-8 SAT . 10-5 SUNDAY CLOSED B O X IN G W E E K DEC. 28-31 st, 4 DAYS ONLY!