The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

14 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday March 28, 2008 · ROHDE · MEPHISTO · DANIEL HECHTER PARIS · BIRKENSTOCK · RIEKER · ARA · ROHDE · MEPHISTO www.oakvillebeaver.com · ROHDE · MEPHISTO · DANIEL HECHTER PARIS · BIRKENSTOCK · RIEKER · ARA · ROHDE · MEPHISTO · ROHDE · MEPHISTO · DANIEL HECHTER PARIS · BIRKENSTOCK · RIEKER · ARA · ROHDE · MEPHISTO Our Spring Collection Has Now Arrived Largest selection and BEST PRICES in the GTA DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER HANDS ACROSS THE WATER: Oregano Pizza Dolci & Cafe owner Tonin Ndoja, left, stands with Mayor Gjon Dedaj of the Albanian city of Rreshen. Between them is a wood carving of the bird that appears on Albania's flag. Visiting Albanian mayor sees Oakville as model government By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF INGEBORG'S WAREHOUSE 1681 FINFAR COURT, MISSISSAUGA Hours: Mon.-Sat. 9 to 5 Sun. 11 to 4 905-823-7415 CARRIERS WANTED The Oakville Beaver The Oakville Beaver is looking for newspaper carriers in your neighbour hood! Support your local carrier Advertised as the most livable town in Canada, Oakville prides itself on being an example for the rest of world to follow. Well, now a part of that world is visiting to check out all the hype. Mayor Gjon Dedaj of the Albanian city of Rreshen recently visited Oakville where he and members of his council received a crash course on the inner workings of a Canadian municipality. "I've received lots of information," said Dedaj, through an interpreter. "There are many elements here that are more advanced than in our country, but we are making progress and through these kinds of relationships we hope to make more progress." Dedaj's decision to come to Oakville stems from the fact that Oakville resident Tonin Ndoja, who is originally from Rreshen, was able to make arrangements for Dedaj and his delegation to meet with Mayor Rob JOSHUA CREEK PUBLIC SCHOOL INFORMATION MEETING The Halton District School Board invites the public to attend a follow-up information meeting regarding accommodation changes at Joshua Creek Public School for September 2008. This meeting will take place on: Thursday, April 3, 2008 Joshua Creek Public School 1450 Arrowhead Road, Oakville Time: 7 p.m. This is a follow-up meeting from the March 18, 2008 public meeting in which proposed boundary changes for Joshua Creek were presented. A revised accommodation plan for September 2008 will be presented, based on the community feedback received. This is an opportunity for members of the Joshua Creek Public School community to ask questions regarding the revised accommodation proposal. The revised accommodation proposal will be posted as soon as possible at www.hdsb.ca Join our carrier club Earn extra money and win prizes Many routes still available Call immediately for more information Halton District School Board 2050 Guelph Line, PO Box 5005, Burlington, ON L7R 3Z2 (905) 335-3663 (905) 842-3014 (905) 878-8451 Fax: (905) 335-9802 www.hdsb.ca W. Joudrie Director of Education Gillian Tuck Kutarna Chair of the Board 905-845-9742 Burton and council. A tour of the town was also arranged. "We gave them a tour of Town Hall and Central Operations. We showed them how we clear snow in this country," said Ward 1 Councillor Alan Johnston. "We basically showed what we do for the community. How the Town is responsible for parks and recreation and snow removal and stuff like that. They were just interested in how we did things here at the local level." Any advancements Rreshen may lack when compared to Oakville are no doubt owing to Albania's bleak past. A communist country for more than 40 years, Albania eventually became a xenophobic Stalinist state that shunned even Russia and China. After emerging from the Cold War, Albania held its first democratic elections in 1991 and since then has functioned as a multi-party democracy. Despite this escape from isolationism, the country still faces problems in the form of high unemployment, widespread corruption, a dilapidated physical infrastructure and powerful organized crime networks, but even here there is hope on the horizon. Dedaj noted that a highway is being built that will run from the Adriatic port of Durres, past Rreshen and into Kosovo. The highway's close proximity is expected to promote economic develop in Rreshen, as well as stimulate growth. Dedaj welcomes this, but also knows there will be challenges. "There are about 16,000 people in Rreshen, the city is not yet full," he said. "More will come because of the highway that will pass our city and for that we need greater transit and utility services." Having received an idea on how a town the size of Oakville functions, Dedaj and his delegation are returning to Albania and counting the experience in Canada a successful one with Dedaj noting that it `opened his mind.'