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

OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, August 27, 2009 · 6 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 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 Letters to the editor Hands off Glenorchy parkland Re: Will Region put pipeline through Glenorchy parkland? Oakville Beaver, Aug. 19 Putting sewer pipes through Glenorchy Conservation Area, a part of Oakville's Natural Heritage System, is incompatible with the North East Oakville Secondary Plan, which states: "The primary purpose of the Natural Heritage and Open Space System is to protect, preserve and, where appropriate, enhance the natural environment" and which also states, "land disturbances shall generally be prohibited." Oakville's citizens did not fight for the preservation of these lands for eight years to see them trenched and tunneled to save developers money and drivers inconvenience. The heavy equipment used, and the construction itself, will destroy and disturb a vulnerable ecosystem. Sewer pipes leak: they give off heat, damaging their natural surroundings; they need to be repaired and in the future they will likely need to be increased in size or twinned -- promising ongoing damage to our hard-won Natural Heritage System. Oakvillegreen Conservation Association has made it clear to the Region of Halton that we absolutely reject this proposal and will fight it if it becomes the preferred option. In the meantime, we are counting on the Province, which owns the land, to tell the Region to keep their mitts, and construction equipment, off. LIZ BENNEIAN, PRESIDENT, OAKVILLEGREEN CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION NEIL OLIVER Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com 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 Raitt playing with misleading numbers When Halton MP and Minister of Natural Resources Lisa Raitt spoke to the Oakville Chamber of Commerce last week, she touted the government's goal of generating 90 per cent of our electricity from non-emitting sources by 2020, comparing that to the U.K.'s more modest goal of 30 per cent by the same date. While this makes it sound like the Conservative government is setting lofty environmental goals compared to other countries, these figures are somewhat deceptive. In fact, Canada already generates 76.4 per cent of its electricity through non-emitting sources due to our abundance of hydroelectric resources. So getting to 90 per cent would only require a 17.8 per cent increase in that proportion. The United Kingdom currently generates only 20 per cent of its electricity through non-emitting sources (largely nuclear), so they are in fact aiming to increase production from these sources by half. I would have been far more interested in hearing Ms. Raitt's explanation of why her ministry has spent the past two years ignoring repeated and ongoing requests from McMaster University for the relatively minimal funding they would need to start producing enough medical isotopes at their existing research reactor to solve the current crisis. Sadly, Ms. Raitt appears to be more interested in boosterism than problem solving. JENNIFER SMITH NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER MONEY FOR TREES: Tim Hortons Owner Geoff Shore (counter clockwise from bottom right), Kerr Street BIA Richard Messer, Kerr Village BIA Chair Allan Kowall, M&M Meats Franchisee Theresa Castonguay, and Chair of the Oakville Chamber of Commerce Aby Alameddine present a cheque for $503 to Ground Breakers Oakville founder Liz Benneian (left). Ground Breakers is a group of local volunteers who have planted more than 8,000 native trees and shrubs on public property Oakville. The cheque represents proceeds from the Tim Hortons/Chamber of Commerce Environmental Awareness Day on Saturday, July 18. Yearning for good old days when dog ownership was simple D og ownership -- and, for that matter, dogs -- used to be simple. You got a dog. The dog was the perfect pet: low-maintenance, loyal, friendly, faithful. If you found yourself unloved, the dog loved you, unconditionally. In short, the dog was your best friend. Your buddy. Your pal. Back in those good old days, you oftentimes did not even bother contemplating a name for your dog, you just called the hound by a distinguishing feature, be it physical or behavioral: Spot, Lumpy, Barfy, Gassy, Scratchy. Nowadays people tend to take as much care and time naming their canines as they do naming their kids, burning untold brain cells in coming up with weird and wacky handles for their hounds that were once reserved for royalty, blue bloods or cats. Mitzy. Bootsy. Winthorpe, and such. Back in the day, caring for dogs was cheap and easy. The dog slept in the doghouse and it ate plain old kibble. Today we pamper our pooches with gourmet foods and glamorous accommodations (that is, when we're not just letting them share our bed). Oh, and every fourth week we ship `em off to the beauty parlour for haircuts and spa-like coddling. Alas, something has gone awry in the dog world (per- sonally, I think it's all the darn coddling and the pampering). Gone are the days when dogs were simple creatures. Take our dog (Please!). His name is Zoey. He's a French hound and he's so darn simple, he's complex. Or, so darn complex, he's simple (a canine conundrum). Put it this way: I don't think a crack team of pet psychologists could Andy Juniper get a full grip of what's going on in Zoey's head even if we could afford their fees. Seriously, if we'd gone old school and named this dog by a distinguishing feature, be it physical or behavioral, his name would either be Cute As All Get-Out. Or, Are You Messin' With Me? He's always been a character, from the day we drove him home from the breeder, and he cried the whole way. Over the next 10 days, we tried to crate train him, but he wailed all night and ended up teaching us a few things: that he was claustrophobic and not about to be crated. One day we left him locked up in our large ensuite bathroom, all dangerous items safety tucked away, while we snuck out for a round of golf. We returned to find he'd scaled the side of the bathtub and chewed up the window blinds. Recently we took a family vacation, leaving Zoey in the capable hands of dog-loving relatives. And he's been certifiably crackers ever since. He no longer trusts us: whenever we make a move toward the door, he races around and whines. Maybe he's trying to tell us something. Maybe he's saying, "I know you're heading off to Chicago again and leaving me in the care of virtual strangers for a week!" Or maybe in his mad mind he's just plotting his revenge on us. Revenge? Suffice to say, Zoey has...issues. Always needy, he's now downright paranoid. The family thinks he needs an intervention of some sort to reassure him he's loved. Or maybe a stint in doggie therapy. I think he needs to be read the riot act: you're a dog. Get a grip. You're supposed to be simple, low-maintenance, loyal, friendly, faithful. Not nutty as a fruitcake and flaky as a pie crust. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com.