A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday May 12, 1999 T he Oakville Beaver OPINION Ian Oliver P ublisher Neil O liv e r Associate P ublisher Norman Alexander E d ito r Kelly Montague, .Advertising D ire cto r Martin Doherty C ircu la tion D ire cto r Ten Casas O ffice M anager Mark Dills P roduction M anager Riziero Vertolli D irecto r o f Photography Metroland Printing, Publishing & D istributing U d., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, A lston HeralcJ/Courier. Barrie Advance, BarryS Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise. Brampton Guardan, Burtngton Post, Burtngton Shopping News. C ity Parent, Co*ngwoocW\/asaga Connection. East York Mmor, Erin Advocata'Country Routes. Etobicoke GuanJan, Flamborough Post, Georgetown Independent/Act on Free Press. Huronia Business Times. K ingston This W eek. Lindsay This W eek. M arkham Ecnom ist & Sun. M idland/P enetanguishine M irror. M ilton Canadian Cham pion, M ilton Shopping News, MGsGsauga Business Times. MGsGsauga News. Napanee Guide. Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mwror. OakviBe Beaver. Q akvile Shoppng News, CBdtmers Hockey News. O rilia Today. Oshawa/W hitty/Clarington Port Perry ThG Week. Owen Sound Tribune. Peterborough This W eek. P icton C ounty G uide. Richm ond H ill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal. Scarborough M irror, S touftville/U xbridge Trtxjne. Forever M xng, City o f Mark Guardan 467 Speers Rd., Oakville O n t L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association ^ C N A Canadian Community Newspapers Association ^ Suburban Newspapers « ot America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Editorials Good luck There has certainly been no more controversial issue over the past two years than that o f restructuring Ontario's health care system. It has been ah emotional initiative by the province to try and bring back some semblance o f a system that is responsive to patients and taxpayers...a difficult project to be sure. Hospitals have been closed and am algamat ed. Services have been consolidated or reduced and sta ffing levels have both been cu t and resto red . In short, i t 's been ch ao tic fo r a ll invo lved , from hosp ita l adm in istra to rs and nurses to patients and other caregivers. B ut as the a rro w s co n tin u e to fly over health care in the early days o f the provincial election, there is som e good news. And it ha: decidedly Oakville slant. Oakville Trafalgar M emorial Hospital President and CEO, John Oliver, has agreed to take a year away from his post and concentrate on getting the health care restructuring project on course. That may be a loss for OTM H but it's certainly a gain for everyone who holds up O ntario's health care system as a model o f what can be accom plished in delivering good health to citizens, regardless o f their economic condition. O liver's choice by the province is particularly encouraging since he rep resents an area that has already seen restructuring take place and also knows about the needs o f hospitals and health care in high-growth areas. In efforts to be fair to all communities, monies that could have gone to areas under expansion, such as Oakville and Halton as a whole, were provid ed to other com munities with static or falling populations. We certainly wish him well in what promises to be an incredible chal lenge to ensure our health care system not only survives but thrives. 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 O liv e r's cho ice b y the p ro v in c e is p a rtic u la r ly e n co u ra g in g s ince he represen ts a n area th a t has a lre a d y seen re s tru c tu r in g ta ke p la ce a nd a lso know s a b o u t the needs o f h o sp ita ls a n d h e a lth care in h ig h -g ro w th areas. > a T o o m u c h g r i p i n g a b o u t h e a l t h s y s t e m I am fed up with hearing people moan about the health service and I include in this, (Liberal leader) D a lto n M c G u in ty and (N D P leader) Howard Hampton. Ontario has a burgeoning popu lation as well as a deficit, obvious ly som ething had to be done to revamp the system in order that it will continue to be what I honestly believe it is-the best system in the world. Someone I know has MS. This w eek , one o f h is ey e s becam e almost blind. He needed steroids to help bring back the sight so the next morning the VON nurse came to h is hom e to a d m in is te r the steroid intravenously. All the para phernalia to enable her to do it was delivered the night before. She was with him for an hour and this treat ment will continue for five days. How much better than taking up a bed in the hospital. I know two people, once with a knew replace ment and the other with a broken hip and other problems. Both bless the system and sing its praises. T he specia lists too are unas su m in g and very a v a ila b le . Someone said to me: "Imagine, my specialist called me. So the em ergency room s are over-crowded. I wonder how many people use them when it is not really necessary? I remember one of my children crying with an ear ache at the tim e w hen docto rs made house visits. As it happened in the middle of the night, I would not call the doctor and one did not dream of going to the emergency. People are spoiled today, but with news about health occupying a large part of the TV shows, the magazines and newspapers, it is no wonder that we are ally hypochon driacs. T h e m ed ica l sy stem loom s large in our lives and with all the (heart) by -pass opera tions and Nurses rally behind one o f their own R ecently my husband under- him when he com es home. Such went major surgery in Toronto. The concern, compassion, prayers and good wishes o f everyone has over whelmed us. However the gift from the staff o f '4 West' (at Oakville Trafalgar M em orial H ospital) has touched me beyond belief. The girls are giving me 'their time', transferring v aca tio n hours o r w ork ing my shifts unpaid so that I may spend more time at the hospital or with unselfish g iving deserves m ore than a mere thank-you and I would like them to know how eternally grateful I am. I am very proud to work with each o f these professionals and even p roud to ca ll th em m y 'friends'. To quote a recent patient o f 4 west~"It is so wonderful to know some angels here on earth." Jan Glover, R.N. other life -sav ing p rocedures as well as expensive modem equip ment, it has become extraordinarily costly. McGunity and Hampton know all this, of course, and their respec tiv e g o v e rn m e n ts d id n o th in g about the problem. Bob Rae closed beds and in so d o in g , le ft the h o sp ita ls h a lf- empty-so if this was the case, why not amalgamate and save money so that it can be spent on the afore mentioned items. Unfortunately, the above politi cians are using the health system as a red herring yet they have no con crete ideas to put forth except to flog the whole subject to death in the hope that if they repeat their son enough, people will begin to believe what they are saying. Their fetish is a farce and they know it. B etty Hansford Trekking with students in Nepal a pleasure I am writing in response to your a rtic le in the F ocus section on Wed., April 14th, entitled Trekking In Nepal. I enjoyed the article upon my return and I wanted your read ers to know how impressed I was w ith s tu d e n ts and s ta ff o f MacLachlan College. This was my first student trek and as a former teacher with the Halton Board of Education, it was exciting to be back with young people again. The seven students showed a special caring for everyone they met on Main issue in Ontario election is voting A wake-up call to all non-voters N on-voters underestim ate their voting strength and importance to Ontario. They are a large group, it seems, that have become fed-up with the politics o f the 90's. Non-voters missed a golden opportunity to set the framework for a better Ontario in the 1995 election. L ittle did they realize that the present government would be elected with only 29% of eligible voters.' Ontario's trademark for decades has been quality education and healthcare for all its citizens. Ontarians have prided them selves on a province that offered quality em ployment opportunities to tuition-earning students, life bu ild ing graduates and responsible breadwinners. We, in large, are a caring people and expect our governm en ts to use our hum an, tax and natu ra l reso u rces w isely . Y ears o f h igh unem ploym ent, underem ploym ent, child poverty, increasing food- bank dependence, homelessness and major shortages in healthcare and education, have punctuated the 90's. This speaks volumes about the priorities o f our governments. The test of good government is that it provides opportunity, not only for a privileged few, bu t fo r the m ajority . A sound governm en t w ith greater foresight and the ability to plan well, before acting would be a welcome change for Ontario. Ontarians have had enough propaganda games. We want a government that really represents us and will work to build a province that we can be proud of. It is high time for a return of hope and opportunity to the majority of Ontarians. Voters and non-voters alike m ust vote in 1999. Vote for real representation at Queen's Park and an end to this scary, unprecedented and expense manip ulation we have been witnessing. Ron E llio tt the trip. They exhibited an aware n ess o f cu ltu ra l d iffe ren ce s , a curiosity about the Everest region and they developed a true admira tion for our hosts, the Sheipa peo ple. Each day, they experienced life and customs that were unfamiliar to them . They had to deal w ith fre ez in g te m p e ra tu re s , s teep climbs, new foods, and they adjust ed easily to their new surround ings. O ne o f the th in g s th a t impressed me the most was their genuine respect fo r each other. They enjoyed visiting local schools and started a tree planting project on behalf o f MacLachlan College. These trees were planted on the steep, sandy slopes and when I vis ited the area on my next trek, they were beginning to show signs of growth. It w as a p leasure to be the ir T rek L ea d er and a w o n d erfu l opportunity to be involved in a project that will assist the people of Nepal. Judy Moore Pud by Steve Nease HERESYOUR DEEP FbRE Antiseptic. YJ |\ ClEANSER, ANTI-BACTERIAL- < »' K;-- SOAP/ MEDICATED PADS, ' after- J cleansing IN the war om y c R V m ZITS, YOU CANT LET WALLET/ YOUR GUARD DOWN J u ) w Letter of the Week STOP payment I strongly object to the Town o f Oakville council agreeing to fund future legal costs for the STOP-CN-IN- THEIR-TRACKS group. If the mayor and council wish to finance this from their own purse, fine, but not from the public purse. It just blows my mind when people knowingly move into an area adjacent to a major highway, airport and, in this case, a rail yard and once operations in these areas increase, they start to whine and want them shut down. With this particular group, did it never occur to them th a t th e re w ou ld be co s ts an d legal m an eu v e rin g involved with taking on the Big Guy as they have, and that they should have prepared themselves to take their lumps in the event they were not successful? I caution Town Council on their decision as reported in The Oakville Beaver, for they could be setting a poten tially costly precedent where every neighbourhood group who chooses to oppose Ontario Municipal Board deci sions or other, will be looking to the public purse for sup port. I invite O akville Town Council, through the local media, to justify the use of public money to support the future legal costs o f the Stop CN group. AJV. A lkerton Ever serve on a Corvette? A Minesweepers Reunion will be held on Sept. 24th to 26th, at the Royal Canadian Legion, Waverley, Nova Scotia. Along with swapping stories, naval personnel will attend a Friday reception, Saturday special events and memorial service, banquet and dance, Sunday brunch and Ceilidh. Six years ago, sailors travelled across Canada to meet up with old shipmates for the three-day event, and the commit tee looks forward to this year's reunion. H.M.C.S. Sackville tied up in Halifax is a floating muse um, the last o f the "Corvettes" which many will tour. For information, please send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Andy Watson 485 Cobequid Rd Lr. Sackville, N.S. . B4C3Y7 Taxpayers deserve better Gerry Nicholls (Oakville Beaver, Letters to the Editor, Wed. M ay 5, 1999) really should do some research before he starts fu lm inating about unions using 'm oney their m em bers pay in dues to finance a political cause some members may not support.' If he had, he would have discovered that the option to support a political party is dem ocratically decided by each separate local o f a union, enabling them to opt out, if they so desire. In fact, many contracts allow for a person's total dues to be sent to a charity chosen by the member. So much for his 'Forced Dues Blues' argument. York professor R obert M cderm id, in a paper called 'Funding the Com mon Sense Revolution', puts the contri b u tio n o f u n io n s to the N D P fo r th e la s t e le c tio n at $445,282. By contrast, the Tories got $ 12-million in cor porate contributions. So much for Mr. N icholls' bluster- ings about unions spending millions o f dollars. As to Harris changing the laws "to prevent union boss es from using forced dues to finance their political feuds", they are already on the books. But we do need a law to prevent the brazen and arrant misuse o f over $100-million of taxpayers' money for self-laudatory TV com m ercials by Harris, which Mr. Nicholls neglected to mention. N o tax payer was ever consulted about that brazen and arrogant theft from the treasury. K.J. Hazeldon