w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER Th ur sd ay , D ec em be r 1 6, 2 01 0 6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 The Oakville Beaver The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council.The council is located at 80 Gould St.,Suite 206,Toronto,Ont.,M5B 2M7.Pho e (416) 340-1981.Advertising is accepted on he condition that,in the event of a typographical error,that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item,together with a reasonable allowan e for signa ure,will n t be charged for,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 adv rtising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. United Way of Oakville Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America NEIL OLIVER Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com MICHELLE SIU / OAKVILLE BEAVER WARM-HEARTED DONATIONS: Dudley Clarke (left) and Nancy Bromberg (right) of Fareshare food bank accept winter coats from Denise Jeziorski and Ellen Lee-Poy (centre) on behalf of Bunge Canada at the Speers Road food bank Thursday. Bunge Canada employees raised funds and purchased 65 new winter coats for distribu- tion to food bank clients. Fareshare is in need of funds and food donations. It is located at 1240 Speers Rd., Unit 6. ATHENAAward Guest Columnist What a mess. Years of dreamy plans for renewablesolar and wind energy, expensive conservationplans, unfulfilled promises to close coal gener- ating stations and a belief that Ontarians can always reach deeper to pay for hydro rate increases led us here. But the legacy of the McGuinty Liberals is an Ontario electrical future which is mired in poor decisions, is aging and unreliable, massively expensive and showing no sign of turning around for consumers. Creeping user fees and tax hikes have led to hydro rates, which have increased 75 per cent under the leadership of Premier Dalton McGuinty, and that is before the HST is applied. Worse still, McGuintys insistence on smart meters and an outsourced Green Energy Plan for solar and wind power will hike hydro bills another 46 per cent, according to government estimates. And you know the track record of McGuinty government estimates. Offering massive incentives up to 20 times the usual cost of power to those who build uneconomical solar and wind projects means your bill will rise to pay for those incentives. In addition, the government is building large natural gas-fired generating plants for those times where there is no wind or sun. So how much cleaner will the newly generated electricity be? I fully expect those who have benefitted financially from the alleged green energy plans will strongly defend the efficacy of these plans. They have a vested interest. However, businesses are voting with their feet. They are leaving Ontario, because it is simply too expensive to operate here. They are taking their jobs, their people and their futures to more affordable and realistic jurisdictions. I believe that we need to refurbish and expand Ontarios nuclear generating capacity. It already produces about 50 per cent of our electricity and is an afford- able and relatively clean source of our base load requirements. Of course, renewable generation is important, but so is choosing projects that are affordable and reliable. My colleagues and I have been pushing hard to give families and businesses a choice of whether they want to opt into a time-of-use pricing arrangement or remain with a fixed cost per-kilowatt-hour plan. Choice is important. For too long the McGuinty Liberals have ignored Ontarians ability to pay. We need to put consumers first, both families and businesses, and understand that they pay the bills. Ted Chudleigh, Halton MPP Ted Chudleigh Who pays the bills? The Oakville Beaver is a division of According to recent reports from the ASNN (All-ScroogeNews Network), the Christmas season is hazardous to yourhealth and well-being. Not to the point where the symbol of the season might as well be the old skull and crossbones. But close. A recent study of college students on Facebook reveals that more relationships end in the two weeks leading up to Christmas than at any other time of the year (although March Break and Valentines Day arent far behind). Why? Well, Im no sociologist, but I figure these crazy college kids are weighing whether to stick with their partners and face having to buy them gifts, or ditching them in favour of having extra kegger cash over the holidays. Another uplifting report suggests that having a Christmas tree in the home dramatically increases the amount of mold spores in the air. Inhaling mold spores is horrible for anyones health, but par- ticularly harmful for the up-to-15 percent of the population who are allergic. Alas, if youre thinking an artificial tree might be the answer, think again. Fake trees made in China may well contain lead mak- ing them highly toxic to manufacture and dispose of, and harmful in your home. Hey, honey, ya wanna go with the toxic spores this year or the poisonous lead? Of all the seasons we celebrate, Christmas is by far the harshest on the environment, from the seasonal lighting to the tons of garbage produced (super- fluous packaging, wrapping paper, etc.). And, of course, anything thats hard on the environment is eventually hard on us, right? Finally, theres the untold stress of the season. Our apparent need to make everything perfect. Our sense of obligation to spend time with Weird Uncle Willard. Theres all the overeating and over-indulging in unhealthy food, and imbibing too much alco- hol. Not surprisingly, each Yuletide season sees a spike in family feuds, emergency room visits and alcohol-induced incidents and accidents. Okay, okay, surely some aspects of the season are actually good for us, right? Right. The All-Scrooge News Network be darned, there are many things about Christmas that are downright healthy. While we may well dread the seasons overkill, its hype and excess, its extravagance and expense, not to mention the arrival of the aforementioned Uncle Willard, most people still actually look forward to Christmas and truly enjoy the season. Further, research suggests that tossing ourselves wholeheart- edly into the throes of the season, as so many people tend to do, is good for our mental well-being, as is surrounding ourselves in the chaos and clamour of family no matter how dizzyingly dys- functional your family may seem (and when it comes down to it, arent all families a tad dizzy and dysfunctional?). Sociologist/author Miriam Weinstein once offered up the fol- lowing advice to help people suppress their inner Scrooge and to have a holly jolly Christmas: Lower your expectations. Forget perfection. Go for good-enough, semi-order, so that you can come away with one or two memorable moments. And, of course, Dont forget to laugh. Andy Juniper can be visited at www.strangledeggs.com, contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, or followed at www.twit- ter.com/thesportjesters. The All-Scrooge News Network is singing Christmas perils Andy Juniper