T h e O a k v il l e B e a v e r Oafo/Tfe Cemfwmfy ffletvf/pa/tw CAZ* K k , 3 3 8 -0 6 0 2 OmCtALMBHAOf AMetroland Publication Vol. 37 No. 47 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21,1999 60 Pages 75 Cents fc>/os GS7) Photos by P e ter J. T hom pson U N U S U A L F IN D : Georgia Peck (above left) shows off a garter snake she and her friends (left to right) Kiara Zuchkan, Sydney Peck and Nicholas Zuchkan found while cleaning up Petro Canada Park for Earth Day Saturday. More than 500 volunteers cleaned up more than 2,000 kg. of trash from 15 sites for the 8th annual Earth Week Clean-Up. That's Jason Roper (right) doing his bit at the park, while Paul Demarco and Sean Irwin (bottom) of the 19th Oakville B-Troop, helped clean up the River Oaks area. Another major clean-up takes place Saturday at Lions Valley Park from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. ( Hard feelings continuing in schools7' following Catholic teachers dispute By Howard Mozei OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF While Halton's Catholic sec ondary teachers have been back to work since February - in class as well as after school - the head of their union says residual effects of the labour dispute linger. "The hard feelings are still here," said Joe Pece, president of the Halton secondary unit of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA). Two issues still distress many teachers, Pece explained, the first being that the union believes the whole matter could have been resolved back in September. He maintains that the agreement reached in February is not "much differ ent" from what the union had originally been seeking. "We didn't have to be put through the ringer," said Pece. February's three-day lockout to "put the real wheels in motion," says Pece, still remains a real sore spot with teachers who feel that a negotiated settle ment could have been reached without playing hardball. Pece said teachers were still in class but simply not volun teering . for extra-curricular activities - and for that they were locked out, said Pece. "That's where teachers are harbouring some strong feel ings," he said. What will be needed to "bridge the gap" between senior Board administration and the union, Pece continued, are "ges tures of goodwill," meaning fur ther refinements of the agreed upon settlement. The timeframe under which the deal was struck during the lockout was so tight, Pece explained, that not every item was completely ironed out. At the time, teachers gave the Board some "leeway," he said, but still worry they could be penalized. For example, a committee is currently dealing with issues surrounding the restructuring of department heads that was agreed to as part of the contract. Pece maintains that under the present funding formula, the Board may have more flexibili ty than originally thought. As far as extra-curricular activities are concerned, Pece says he knows of some teachers who have not returned to volun teering after class. " U n fo rtu n a te ly , a n d I h a te to say th is , so m e tea ch e rs a re so (See 'Lockout' page 2) Stop-CN financial support still to be decided Town looking at how to reim burse citizens who fought shun ting operations By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF While Town Council remains sympathetic to the Oakville Stop-CN-In- Their-Tracks Committee, a number of legal details must be worked out before any support - financial or otherwise - is forthcom ing. Councillors met behind closed doors for well over two hours Monday, hearing from the munic ipality's solicitors as well as from William Sasso, lawyer for the residents. In the end, several issues pertaining to the ongoing Canadian National (CN) railway noise dispute were referred back to staff for a report in two weeks. Council has a lot to decide: first, whether to provide Stop CN with a grant for mounting legal fees; and second, whether or not to intervene in CN's appeal of a recent Canadian Transport Agency (CTA) order for the railway to mitigate noise. According to Ward 3 councillor Tedd Smith, Council remains in a quandary over whether to financially support a private group with tax money. At this point, however, Smith says some councillors are not convinced the Town should be involved at all. Smith explained that since a decision won't be made for a couple of months whether CN's appeal will be heard, the Town has some breathing room to gather all the legal data it needs. The entire issue revolves around the increased usage of four tracks to the south of CN's O a k v i l l e Marshaling Yard. Especially dis ruptive to neigh bouring residents is CN's use of "roll shunting," the practice of using gravity to allow rail cars to travel down an incline and con nect loudly with other cars. CN has appealed last month's sweeping CTA order for the company to take immediate steps to mitigate noise on the southern tracks of its east Oakville Yard. Stop CN is opposing the appeal despite funding problems, although the CTA intends to try to uphold its rul ing. (Stop CN won on every count of its complaint except one: costs.) "To date, although no funding has been obtained, the fact that the CTA is participating in (See 'Town' page 2) Councillor Tedd Smith: some councillors wonder if Town should be involved in compensation K ey Hwy. 407 section finally ready to begin By Paul Mitchison SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Relief from the most heavily congested stretch of roadway in Ontario along the Queen Elizabeth Way between Oakville and Burlington may just be two years away. The relief should come when the province's 407 ETR toll highway extension is completed by July 31,2001. Last week, Transportation Minister Tony Clement told a press conference the daily conges tion on the QEW in Burlington and Oakville is the worst in Ontario. This long-delayed route will improve traffic flow, he said. Construction will start this summer on the 24- km. west extension from the junction of Hwys. (See 'Missing' page A8) iNSIDE today's paper Editorials.-------------------------------------------A6 Homes & Gardens______________-A10 Focus...............................------------........B1 Art & Entertainment_____________ B6 Golf.....__________________________ C1 Sports..------------------------------------------------C4 Business........................... C8 Automotive.........................................D1 Classified_______________________ D4 Special Supplements for Home Delivery: Party City, The Bay, The Brick, Sports Authority Pirtiil delivery: Sheridan College, Party Packagers, Emischre Inferiors, Milt Post, Hoteld Pert, Form foung, Cogeco, Sheriden Hurseries, Double Double raze Canadian Publications Mail Product Agreem ent #435-201 GREEN thumb BUY IN GIANT CU.YD BULK BAG AND SAVE!!! 1 IO N TA R IO SOD 2 5 7 -8 7 9 5 W e'll de liver even if you're not home. j Q ' L & V ' r f RETIREMENT PLANNING SPECIALISTS F r e e C o n s u l t a t i o n 8 4 2 - 2 1 0 0 Peter C. 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