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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday September 27, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 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. Phone (416) 340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not 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 advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Commentary Guest Columnist NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager Metroland Media Group Ltd. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCHOR Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver is a division of Growing Oakville needs hospital now Ted Chudleigh, Halton MPP The time for action is now. Construction of Oakville's new hospital has been Ted Chudleigh delayed because the McGuinty Liberal government doesn't assign a high enough priority to it. That's the bottom line. Other people may lean on invented problems such as a lack of construction companies capable of the work, a lack of labour or even a lack of preparation for the Oakville project, but they are wrong. It is a lack of will by the provincial government to move Oakville to the top of the list. Oakville's population has been growing dramatically for more than a decade. Its hospital was built to serve a population far less than the 170,000 that currently call Oakville home. On the existing schedule, Oakville's new hospital will not open for at least five years. Already, Oakvillians are faced with substandard access to health services. That access will get worse each year until the new hospital opens. These are the same people who have been paying more than their fair share through the McGuinty health tax. I have been collecting signatures on a petition asking the Premier to move Oakville up the priority list. It was the provincial government that pushed the rapid growth in Halton and the associated high demands on our health care infrastructure. It is the provincial government that has a moral obligation to provide the services necessary to the people who decided to call Oakville home. This week I will be asking the health minister why Oakville is so far down the priority list. This week I will be presenting petitions from Oakville residents to the Legislature at Queen's Park. This week I will be hounding the government to live up to their responsibilities. If you have not yet signed the petition please go to my website at www.tedchudleigh.com and print off a copy. Sign it and collect the signatures of your friends and neighbours and then send it to me. In addition, I have posted a letter to the Premier on this issue which can be printed, signed by you and sent directly to him. According to government officials the lack of labour in qualified building trades, particularly in the mechanical -- electrical sector, is the major roadblock to building at a faster pace. It appears that for Oakville's new hospital to be fast tracked we have two possibilities. The first is to have some other community determine that they can wait which would move Oakville up the list. The other is for the province to recognize Oakville's dire need and adjust its priority list. Let's help them see the light. IAN OLIVER President Media Group Ltd. Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora EraBanner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION The tale of a macho man mindful of his manliness I t's not nice to have your manhood questioned and your machismo mocked. Especially if you're a man and particularly if you are a macho man. Yet, here I stand, a real man's man, a dude mindful of his manliness -- a guy who is at home watching sports in his underwear, drinking cold beer and making juvenile comments about cheerleaders (who would never give me the time of day even if I were the last lout on Earth) -- here I stand, unjustly and hurtfully accused of being a bit of a wussy-boy, a bit of a girlie-man. I know, the fact I find the accusations to be somewhat `hurtful' may sway the jury to a verdict of guilty as charged, but never mind. It started last weekend -- oh, heck, it started years ago when I took a gender-bending shining to The Young & The Restless, and it apparently escalated last weekend when I was left home alone as family members were off doing who-knows-what. On Saturday night, I found myself with assorted manly entertainment options ranging from cleaning my grenade collection, to watching U.S. college football in my underwear, to going out to a local pub and throwing darts at people. But I ended up hanging about the homestead, flicking around the dial in search of something on TV, and contentedly settling with the classic 1967 movie, To Sir With Love. Now, I'll grant you, To Sir With Love is one big fat manicure-pedicure/pajama party/pillow fight kind of chick flick. But, in my manly defense: it is also critically acclaimed. It features swingin' chicks in miniskirts. The fact that the title song, as sung by Lulu, left me tearing up can be completely offset by the fact that I was Andy Juniper watching the damn movie in my underpants while drinking a beer and polishing my garrotes. No? My wife wasn't so sure. Upon hearing about my Saturday night, she said, and not under her breath, either: "What a girly-man!" I doubt I helped my macho cause at all when my wife entered the family room the very next night and caught me watching the teen girly drama Gossip Girl. Fully dressed. With nary a beer, grenade or garrote in sight. I tried to pretend I didn't hear her calling me a "wussy-boy," but I did, and was forced to race off to my bedroom to rein in my burning tears and to bite my pillow. The next morning I found salvation and a defence. It came in the guise of a Newsweek web story, written by Joshua Alston -- a man, I'm quick to point out -- who confessed to being addicted to Gossip Girl. He said midway through last year's inaugural season he found himself "deeply absorbed in the catfights and class warfare and refused to miss an episode." Further, while admitting his evidence is anecdotal, Alston contended that innumerable men -- strong, cocksure, heterosexual men, at that -- are gaga over Gossip Girl. And not just because of the eye candy (plenty of shows have eye candy and are still plenty horrible). So why are men taken by Gossip Girl? Because, as a Josh Schwartz creation, the show features engaging male characters ("Gossip is the show for girls that doesn't make guys feel like morons.") Also, like Schwarz's other creations (The OC and Chuck), it rocks. All of which frees me of all wussy-boy, girly-man charges, right? Well, just in case the jury remains out, I made sure that when my wife came into the family room that night I was in my underwear, drinking beer, eating a plate of ribs without benefit of a napkin and belching the American national anthem in anticipation of Monday Night Football. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.