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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday March 10,1999 T h e O akville Beaver Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Martin Doherty Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director o f Photography Metroland Printing. Publishing & D istributing L id ., hdudes: A0x/Pickering News Advertiser. A ls to n HeraicVCotner, Barrie Advance, Barry's Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise. Bram pton GuanJan. B crtngton Post. B trtngton Shopping News. City Parent, Co«ngwood/W asaga Connection. East >fcrk M rror, Erin Advocata'Country Routes. Etobicoke GuarJan, Ramborouch Post, G eorgetow n Independent/A ct on Free P ress. H uronia Business Tim es, K ingston This W eek. Lindsay This W eek. Markham Ecnom ist & Sun. M icland'Penetanguishine M inor, M ilton Canadan Champion. M lton S hopping New s. M ississauga Business T im es. M ississauga News. Napanee Guide. Newm arket/Aurora Era-Banner. Northum berland News. N orth York M irror, O akvile Beaver. O akvite Shopping News. O idtim ers Hockey News. O rilia Today. OshawaAVhrtby/Ciarington Port Perry This W eek. Owen Sound Tribune. Peterborough This W eek. P cton County G uide. R ichm ond HiB/Thom hi#/Vaughan Libera l, S carborough M irror, S touffvia 'U xbridge Tribune. Forever Y curg. C ity o f Mark Guardan 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Orrt L6K3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax; 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorials F u n d i n g m i n e f i e l d When the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that provinces that gave money to Catholic schools in addition to public schools, were acting in a discriminatory manner, it opened up a Pandora's Box of problems. And there's little doubt that the court's decision won't be acted on by other dis­ parate religious groups. The only 'out' the court gave provinces, was to say that they could fund other schools or continue to operate as they have done historically. And while many groups continue to lobby for public funding for their own inde­ pendent or religious schools, the question is whether Ontario wants to approve such funding. If that ever did occur, it would see hun­ dreds of millions of taxpayer dollars going to institutions with a specific agenda that by their very eliteness, leave out much of the population. In the case of the Catholic system, protestants can still attend those schools so there is really little conflict. But if you add Muslim schools, Hebrew schools, Ukrainian schools, Christian schools etc., the fiscal mess that would ensue would further crip­ ple the already-hurting public system. Next month the United Nations Human Rights Committee will rule on whether Canada and Ontario are in violation of international law in non funding all religious schools equally. Although UN rulings are notoriously ignored by those affected, there seems little doubt that the province would do the 'right' thing if the ruling goes against it in April. So what does that mean to Joe Average Ontario taxpayer? Depending on your source, the extra money needed to fund these schools is reportedly in the $400-million a year neighbourhood. Some neighbour­ hood and one where we don't want to enter. I f that ever did occur, it would see hundreds o f millions o f taxpayer dollars going to institutions with a specific agenda that by their very eliteness, leave out much o f the population. O P I N I O N 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, Ont L6K 3S4 M ik e H a rris n o t to b la m e fo r p ro v in c e 's ills Re: D iane H a r t's column: L e t's talk real issues Premier Harris There isn't hardly anything that Diane Hart has not blamed on Premier Harris. Why does­ n't she put the blame where it belongs. First on the provin­ cial Liberal and NDP govern­ ments who, when they were in power, put Ontario so deep in deb t. S econd ly the federa l Liberal government who took away m illions o f d o llars in tra n s fe r paym ents to the provinces. In the budget, they are g iv ing $ 1 0 -m illio n to health care, which means noth­ ing. That is only half of what they had already taken away. As for school uniform s, I wore one in high school and it was terrific. You don't have to d ec id e w hat to w ear every Oakwood closing issue becoming volatile The Senior Administration at the H alton D is tr ic t School B oard has f in a lly ach ieved what it set out to do when it began the Schoo l C losu re Debates. It has officially pitted community against community. The five presentations by the River Oaks Community at the School Accommodation m eet­ ing held M arch 2nd, le ft Oakwood supporters speechless and outraged. To demand the closure o f Oakwood, so that their com m unity could have their own "community school"- ju s t w hat th ey w ant to take away from us-is beyond belief. Perhaps if they were as well- versed in the statistical infor­ mation provided by senior staff at the board, they too would realize that closing a school in Oakville, where there is already a shortage o f pup il p laces , would only benefit "portable manufacturers and inspectors". The closure of Oakwood has no effect on the building of a new school in north Oakville, especially one in River Oaks. As a matter of fact, there is a m otion being vo ted on that would ensure River Oaks saw the start of construction imme­ diately on a new elem entary school and this is without ANY school closures. But, perhaps the most mean spirited comments were about the p rogram s o ffered at Oakwood. We take pride in the fac t th a t our com m unity is involved with our school. To claim that trustees must ignore any 'emotion' associated with closing a school, and senior cit­ izens should have no part ion the school, is extremely short­ sigh ted and goes d irec tly ag a in s t the H alton D is tric t Schoo l B o a rd 's M ission Statement. Our senior citizens are our m ost valuable resource. The knowledge and experience pro­ vided by these leaders cannot be measured and provides ben­ efits to everyone. The disappointment felt by one parent at the lack of atten­ dance by trustees was uncalled for. Senior staff and trustees have, since the accommodation debates began, been attending m ultip le m eetings per week. Many trustees have full-tim e jo b s and fam ilies too. G ive them a break. The p o ss ib ility of losing these programs has upset both the children and grandtim ers involved. B ut, fin a lly , a f te r th ree years of attending board meet­ ings and p re se n ta tio n s on school closures, this is the first time a community has demand­ ed the closure of another com­ m unity schoo l. Those o f us who have becom e freq u en t presenters and attendees at the m orning and every o n e's the sam e. The s tu d en ts can express their creativ ity with their clothes when they are not in school. U niform s can be very inexpensive. Navy blue ju m p ers , w hite b louses and navy blue sweaters for girls. Navy blue slacks, white shirts fo r the boys and navy blue sweaters. It also saves the par­ ents a lot of money on clothes. Wearing uniforms should have been put through years ago. S u za n n e P reston A look into Halton's future It is the year 2005 and a typi- development north of Britannia board m eetings are proud of the fact that we present facts on the v iab ility o f our own school and do not point fingers at other schools that should be closed in our p lace, y o u 've done the River Oaks communi­ ty a disservice. K im C a ta la n o School Council Chair, Oakwood Public School cal family from the community of Oakville has decided to take a trip to see the fall colours. The Computer Home Management System woke the parents and the dog around 5:00 am. The family had programmed this early start for a Sunday creating plenty of time to avoid early morning traf­ fic congestion. Piling into the Windstar Mark VII, they reversed out of the dri­ veway and onto the one-way street system leading to Britannia Road. Living in this new devel­ opment was a little inconvenient with its one-way streets designed to create more space for houses. They stopped off at a Gas Store and loaded up with pop and chips, filled the tank with gas and set off fully prepared at 6:15 a.m. An accident on Hwy. 25 brought them to an abrupt halt as it did to half the Halton region. Only by taking back streets through the high rise housing and the new shopping mall at Lower Middle Road could they go west to Hwy. 25. It was around 7:30 when they were going through Milton and they encountered traffic congestion all the way to Georgetown where they had lunch and then returned home. The Oakville family never did get to see the countryside that Sunday, but they did actually travel extensively over the 1990's Parkway Belt that was now cov­ ered with "Development". They rem em bered the M inistry of Municipal Affairs and Housing notice they saw in February 1999, changing the zoning but took lit­ tle notice of it at that time. Obviously we cannot rely on our ward and regional council­ lors, mayor, MPPs or MPs to maintain our quality of life we presently enjoy. It is upon us, the taxpayers, to react to these pro­ posals. Colin Davey Pud by Steve Nease Le tte r of the W eek Support local firm s Can we first clarify the phrase 'Oakville-based firm '. Fellow community-based businesses in the town of Oakville find this quite insulting when it is referred to businesses outside of the Oakville area Employees who live in Oakville and travel outside of Oakville to work or run their businesses are not Oakville-based businesses. Do these businesses meet the basic understanding of a community-based company? Do they pay Oakville business taxes? , Do they employ local Oakville residents in their businesses? Do they employ local Oakville students for the summer and part time positions? Do they use local services to run their businesses, trucking and printing companies, contractors, trades­ men etc.? Do they buy local hardware from Oakville suppli­ ers for their business, electrical, hardware, office sup­ plies, promotion etc.? Do they use local entertainment and restaurant facilities to entertain clients? I don't think so. I always thought I had kept my grandfather's teach­ ings close to me. he would tell me: "Your word is your bond and that you have to stand behind anything you represent." Being a 'boomer', I also believe in change and fair competition. But I think this is fast becoming the ethics o f a fool. Big business is based on buying power and quantity dumping. We are taking our lessons today from the U.S. giants that have taken over our Canadian community-based companies. As Canadians, we have passively once again let it happen to us without resistance. Billions of profit dol­ lars cross the border every year to benefit U.S.-based communities. Only those Canadian companies who parallel their ethics with the giants will survive. Large incentives and discounts are the basic tools necessary in maintaining long-term relationships with upper decision makers. Small locally-based compa­ nies do not have this luxury. Their business is based on the quality of their product or service and support from the community and local businesses. They don't have the excess money or buying power to offer these incentives to secure contracts. . What really gets me is when the same decision­ makers living in Oakville have kids looking for sum- mer/part time and full time jobs in Oakville. Whose business door do you think these kids are knocking on looking for jobs?...Oakville-based companies! Dave Campbell Home businesses supported Re: Home-based business by-law I read the article in the Wed. March 3rd Beaver and I don't believe I received the same copy of the (Oakville) Chamber of Commerce News, that Mr. (Ric) Riordon received. My copy says: "The Economic Development Department o f the Town and the Chamber both recognize the impact that Home Based Business has on the community arid do not wish to discourage a sector which has such excellent growth potential. " No where does my copy mention anything about the Town of Oakville banning home-based businesses. Is this a cruel joke or did Mr. Riordon get a different copy from the rest of us. Tedd Smith R E C O G N I Z E D F O R E X C E L L E N C E B Y . . . T h e O a k v il l e B e a v e r O F F I C I A L M E D I A S P O N S O R F O R : & J Y M C AcpQAKvnxa