A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday January 19,2000 T h e O akville B eaver Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver .AssociatePublisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Martin Doherty Circulation Director Ten Casas OfficeManager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director ofPhotography M etro lan dP o in tin g . Putishng&D rstrib u tn gL id, in c lu d e s: A * a x /P c k e n n g N ew sM s& tner. A Jte to nH e ra fc V C o u n e r. S am eA c V a n c e .B an y SB ayT h e W eek ,B o lto nE n te rp rise ,B ram p to nG u artian .B u rlin g io nP o st. B irin g io n S hoppngN ew s. O tyP aren t. C o in g w o o d 'V \tesag aC om edian, E ast Y o rk N fc ro r. E mA cK 'o cata'C an tryR o u tes. E to tx co k eG u ard an ,F ta m to o ro u c ji P o st. G eo rg eto w nIn d ep en d en t/A cto nF reeP ress. H utna B u sin essT im e s. K in g sto nT h isW eek .U ndsayT h is W eek .M ark h amE cn o m ist 4 S u n . M kJand/P enetangm shine M irro r. M ilto nC anarian C ham pion. M ilto n S hoppngN ew s. M sassaugaB usrtessT m es. M sscsaugaN ew s. N ap an ee G ude. N ew m arket/ora E ra -B a n n e r, N o rtL in taertan dN ew s. N o rthY o rk M rro r. O ek v ie B e a v e r, O akvieS hoppngN ew s. O ld tim e rs H o ck eyN e w s. C n fc aT o d a y .O sh aw a/W x ttjy /O am g to nP o ri P e rryT heW eek .O w enS o u n d T rib u n e. P eterboroughT h is W eek .P ieton C ountyG u k Je. R ich m o n d H iH /T h o m h d W au g h anL ib e ra l. S carborough M rro r. S to u fM B e/U x b rid g e T rtu n e. F ore^rY xng. C ityo fM a rkG u ard an O PIN IO N RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association adlan Community Newspapers Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont L6K3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax; 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 SK ol America Editorials The `big' debate Somewhere along the way to `prosperity' and `progress', the great visionaries of the latter 20th century decided that bigger was better. And that view has not been dulled with the advent of a new year and a new millennium. Too bad. For try as we will, there seems to be precious little time for praising anything small. If it's not `mega', `world-class' etc. it just doesn't seem to count. From a political viewpoint, we're entering a new era of consolidation as the bureaucrats would have it. That means fewer municipalities and more `mega' cities. We've been down this road before. Mississauga was the first artificial city in Ontario and probably Canada. It was the supposed answer to the question of how best to serve several smaller communities. The solution was to forget about the smaller `people' centres and instead, take a geographical centre of a region, they create a new city. The nabobs chose a shopping mall with the city hall in an office tower. Yep.no doubt about it, Mississauga started it all. And what of Clarkson, Port Credit, Cooksville and other areas? They survive because when all is said and done, it's neighbourhoods that count even if Big Brother at Queen's Park regards such entities as inefficient and untidy. And as we noted in Sunday's paper, this dubious fate awaits the Town of Oakville. Whether or not our local governments are up to the task of fighting for our existence, still remains to be seen. So far, the silence has been deafening. This same `big' mentality continues to hold sway within the corporate struc ture. Remember the big banks and their merger talks? The latest evidence of the `big' view was the announcement this week that SmithKline Beecham, itself the result of an earlier merger, was going to merge with Glaxo Wellcome, another pharmaceutical giant. Interestingly enough, SB's Canadian corporate headquarters is in Oakville and Glaxo's, just a stone's throw away in Mississauga. Look for phrases like `economies of scale' to be in the headlines when both firms slash workers as they "integrate" their workforces. Y O UR E A L L YTH IN K TRADINGTH EC O M B IN E For a z a m b o n i AND FLOODING THE BARN WILL GET US GOVERNMENT A ID ?, 'LONG AS WE PUT SKATES ON "THE P IG S ., Letters to th e 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 N o n -F ra n co p h o n es n e e d n o t a p p ly Having read that the Reform Party under the auspices o f the United Alternative (UA) is now ready to accept official bilingual ism, I, as a R eform er, have no quarrel with this is it means operat ing on a level playing field. Take the Army: The top brass I have seen paraded on television are all Francophones, a fact that con firms the rum our that unless an officer is a Francophone, he or she cannot get past the rank of Major. This prejudicial factor is also prevalent in the federal civil ser vice, the federal government and the Supreme Court. This impres sion is rampant, so much so that there is a joke: It doesn't matter whether a lifeguard can swim as long as he or she can speak French. T h is d isc rim in a tio n ag ainst English Canadians is deliberate, in part proven by the fact that certain Liberals in 1974 were saying glee fully, "How does it feel now that the shoe is on the other foot?" Meaning, of course, that they (the English) were now being pushed into the background. It is surprising that the Englishspeaking Canadians were not more militant, but cleverly they were made to feel guilty and (former prim e m inister Pierre) Trudeau took full advantage of the discom fiture deserved or not. If the UA does accept official bilingualism , it should be made clear that affirmative action should not apply where language is con cerned. The most competent peo ple must be hired. The patronage doled out to the Francophones in every facet of life by the prime m in isters, from T rudeau to Chretien, must cease, for they have repaid in spades, any real or imag ined slights. They should now be treated the same as the rest of us. Incidentally, the 60's people used to say `never feel guilty.' I was not keen on this maxim but, in this instance, English Canada would have benefitted by it. Letter of the Week Humane Society logic lost on pet lover I am completely at a loss to understand the logic of the `Humane Society.' Recently, I attempted, without success, to rescue a cat from the Oakville Humane Society. From speaking with several vets, I understand the situation at the Toronto Humane Society is even more perverse. Our family already has a 10-year-old cat and dog. Both of our pets are healthy and happy. Our indoor/outdoor cat is de-clawed because he tended to scratch our toddler daugh ter. Many people would have given him away, but we per severed and he is quite affectionate in his older age. We felt the new cat should also be de-clawed and allowed outside if it desired. I was told we could not be granted adoption privileges because of this. There is also a policy not to allow someone to adopt a dog if they work and leave the dog at home. Excuse me but is the mandate not to find homes for the cats and dogs? When did they get on that high pedestal? The dogs I have seen at the Humane Society spend at least 20 hours a day, every day, in a cage smaller than my bathroom. Is it somehow more `hum ane' to keep cats locked in little cages often for months before destroying them for want of a loving home? If you believe a recent telethon fundraiser, there is a shortage of homes for the animals resulting in many being destroyed. In fact, the unbelievable inflexible, poorly thought-out policies eliminate a large number of adoptive homes. It costs well over $100 to adopt a cat from the Humane Society. I paid close to $200 to adopt a stray cat from a dif ferent shelter. This is much more than a kitten from a pet store. People like myself go to the Human Society out of a sense of caring. I was first insulted, then angry over the treatment my spouse and I received. These misguided poli cies, while I am sure were well-intentioned, are not in the best interest of the many cats and dogs that end up put to sleep. I was stunned by the arrogance of the staff of this chari table organization. I guess it can only be the result of overzealous bureaucrats who are given a little bit of authority. Betty A. Hansford P erso n a l response s e r v ic e s till in p la c e I am writing in response to an article published on page 3 of the W ed., Jan. 5th, issue o f The Oakville Beaver, headed "OTMH no longer Lifeline provider." It stated that "OTMH is no longer the authorized provider of Personal R esponse S ervices in H alton Region." Please be advised that this statement is inaccurate. All that has happened is that OTMH is no longer authorized to use the name "L ife lin e " (our prev io u s sole equipment supplier). For the past nine years, OTMH has been providing the only notfor-profit, hospital-owned the oper ated Personal Response Service in H alton. O ur serv ice, form erly known as the Home Emergency Lifeline Program, recently upgrad ed its monitoring centre, diversi fied its supplier base and changed its name to ConnectCARE. This will allow us to continue to provide the same high quality service at the lowest price possible. Our clients can rest assured our "caring connection" is still here to serve them -- a press o f th eir portable button will still connect them to the hospital's monitoring centre 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If more information on our pro gram is required, I encourage your readers to contact us at 338-4357. `A rm y' b r o u g h t h op e I fe e l i t 's n e c e s s a ry to acknow ledge the true salvation th a t is a c c o m p lis h e d by th e Salvation Army. They are w on d erfu l. p e o p le w ho so m e h o w don't get enough recognition. D ivorced at 26 and a single mother to a newborn, life seemed hopeless. I t's now three-and-ahalf years later. It w asn't hope less after all. It's been a struggle, but a struggle made easier by the unconditional love of my family and friends and the overw helm ing generosity o f the Salvation Army this p ast C h ristm as. For the f irs t tim e , I w itn e s s e d through my s o n 's eyes exactly what it is they work so hard to do and successfully accomplish. Teaching religion about tolerance Steve Nease's recent cartoon in the Beaver with the caption: "This mil lennium I resolve to get my act together, " made me wish the Catholics would get together and take a good look at the word "Separate!" The word separate means "Division!" The editorial in the Sun., Jan. 9th, Beaver points out that religion-based education should be left to churches. I wholeheartedly agree. It is the par ents' duty to teach their children religion. Sunday school and church atten dance and bible study classes should be sufficient. It has worked fine for our family. Some time ago, the World Inter-Faith Education Association Ontario held a conference to help teachers teach world religions in a non-indoctrinational style. Teaching the main religions of the world will instill in our children understanding of other faiths which, in turn, teaches tolerance. A grateful mom L.M.H. D og owners tu rn in g parks into fecal wastelands I am amazed by the num ber o f dog owners in our com m unity w ho use c h ild re n 's parks as a dog toilet. O ur hom e backs onto a new park on W est Oak Trails Blvd., just east o f Third Line. It is the park we take our two-year-old boy to play in the playground. The trails around the park and the playground are littered with dog feces. It infuri ates my wife and I that we have had to take our son home to clean up because irresponsible dog owners do not pick up after them. As well, on any given weekend, people who do not live near the park arrive by car and let their dogs run free. This happens quite frequent ly. The dog owners com pletely ignore or don't pay atte n tio n w hen th eir dogs reliev e th em selves. T h e se do g o w n e rs sh o u ld be a w a re th a t allowing their dog to fun freely contravenes the Tow n bylaw . F u rth erm o re, it is the o w n e r's responsibility to pick up after their dog (even if you have to use your bare hands). The town provides parks where ow ners can let their dogs run freely, one which is only a cou ple of blocks away behind the Glen Abbey Rec. Centre. Otherw ise, Keep your dogs on a leash and pick up after them!! Ray Steele Margaret Robichaud, ConnectCARE Coordinator Halton Healthcare Services (Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital & Milton District Hospital) Travel grants unfair Algoma-Manitoulin Liberal MPP Mike Brown has been hot on the trail of Ontario Health Minister Elizabeth Witmer. He's telling his constituents that he's trying to persuade the M inister "to im m ediately im prove the N orthern Health Travel Grant program." Hundreds of thousands o f Ontario taxpayers may not be aware of it, but "northerners" get health travel kickbacks, w hile every o n e else su ffers the in equity o f receiving absolutely nothing. According to figures given in the Northern Health Travel Grants brochure, if someone has to travel from Timmins to Toronto to see a specialist, or visit a hospital, they are reim bursed. if they fly, the airfare might be $254. if they take a bus, it would cost about $172.60. If they fill out the forms, and apply for a grant, the Ontario government shells out $207.40. But if a doctor in G rey-B ruce, H aliburton, Hastings, Muskoka or elsewhere, sends a patient to Toronto, they qual ify for absolutely nothing in the way of travel assistance. The subsidization program is unfair. There should be equal access for everyone, or the whole plan should be scrapped. Many o f us would opt for the latter. Michael Mastri Pud Y our P re-schcol teacher SE N TA L E T T E RH O M E ,M A Y / tx/RE G O IN G -T O L E A R NA B O U T D IN O S A U R S by Steve Nease SH EW A N T SE V E R Y B O D Y INT H EC L A S STO B R IN G -IN S O M E TH IN GOLD- /L te s .*> » © r -- s '. T i, , TOM ORROW i Peter E. Sticklee