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w w w .o a kville be a ve r.com N O R T H THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A M E R I C A 'S M O S T A W A R D E D C O M M U N I T Y N E W S P A P E R W I- lD M iS l JA Y . J A M W H Y I. 2 (X )3 School boards optimistic about future Extra fim ding much-needed boost By Tim Whitnell S P E C IA L TO TH E O AKVILLE B EA V ER Police board agrees to address critical staff shortage By Howard Mozel O AKVILLE BEA V ER STAFF The Halton Regional Police Services Board has agreed to consider what offi cers maintain is a long-overdue work load and staffing analysis to finally address chronic shortages on the street. Last month, the board and the Halton Regional Police Association (H RPA) executive got together (Chief Ean Algar and Deputy Chief Gary Crowell were also present) for a meeting described as promising by HRPA president Dave Atkinson. "Right off the bat it's encouraging to have 100 per cent representation by the board." said Atkinson. " It was good everyone was there." Board chair Donald Robinson agreed the tone of the meeting was in keeping with the cordial relationship that the two parties enjoy. The extreme pessimism of just six months ago has turned to current satisfaction and reason for hope for a couple of high-ranking officials who help oversee the operation of Halton's two school boards. The public consultations on the provincial funding formu la, subsequent recommendations from the Mordechai Rozanski task force and quickly-announced infusions of money for Ontario's cash-strapped school boards have buoyed the aspirations of both Halton Catholic board director Lou Piovesan and Halton public board chair Ethel Gardiner. "The Halton District School Board, along with other boards of education in Ontario, look forward to 2003 with "We will be reviewing all operational areas which were impacted by the funding shortfall as well as new and emerging needs early in the new year." ·Lou Piovesan, education director, Halton Catholic District School Board hope, encouraged by the recommendations of Dr. Rozanski and the members of the task force who reviewed the provin cial education funding formula," observed Gardiner, the pub lic board trustee for Halton Hills. "Beginning in September 2003, we hope to see the begin ning of a three-year phase-in of funds to address the $ 1.1 bil lion dollar shortfall identified by the Education Equality Task Force. " That shortfall has had a profound effect on the programs and services offered by the Halton board. It is my hope that public education in this province has endured its darkest days, and that the government will act quickly to implement all of the Rozanski recommendations." Piovesan echoed those sentiments. " We will be reviewing all operational areas which were impacted by the funding shortfall as well as new and emerg ing needs early in the new year." said the man in his second year as the chief executive of the Catholic board. (See School' page A5) "All the board members appeared attentive, concerned and appeared to have digested the information as well as our request." · Dave Atkinson, president Halton Regional Police Association Enjoy a skate with Jake at Bronte Creek park Looking for some family fun over the Christmas break? Here's a great way to wrap up the holiday season. Jake from the Lake, the loveable blue mascot of the Oakville Waterfront Festival, invites the public to join him for an afternoon of skating on Sunday from 1-4 p.m. at Bronte Creek Provincial Park. Bring the entire family, bring a friend and help ring in the new year with a good, old-fashioned family skating party. Skating is free with park admission. Skates can be rented at the rink. Bronte Creek Provincial Park is located on Burloak Drive just north of the QEW . For information about the park and events throughout the year, call 905-827-6911. Glen Thiessen ·S p e c ia l to th e O a kville B ea v er FULL HOUSE!: Skip Randy Ferhey calls the shots in the $100,000 M & M Meat Skins final at the O akville C urling Club on Sunday. Ferbey outduelled Glenn Howard in the Sunday night final. Ferbey, the Canadian curling champion the past two seasons, picked up close to $41,000 for his weekend's work, including more than $24,000 in the Skins final. Howard settled for near ly $30,000, including just under $14,000 in the Skins final. See Sports fo r story and more photos, page D4. " I w'as rather pleased," said Robinson, who explained the board is careful to maintain the balance between the taxpayer and members' obligations to meet legislated standards to ensure public safety. " There were no surprises and no one was embarrassed." The HRPA gave a 90-minute presen tation. the " heart and essence" of which was the issue of workload and the need to hire more officers over and above those needed to fill vacancies from retirements and secondments. HRPA administrator Paul La Course maintains that the force is at least 60 officers short in providing the commu nity continued good policing while offering a safe working environment for those in uniform. " I thought it was extremely wellreceived," said Atkinson. " All the board members appeared attentive, concerned and appeared to have digested the infor mation as well as our request." After a short recess during which board members discussed the matter privately, said Atkinson, the HRPA del egation was called back and told the (See Study' page A2) MM Editorials.............. A6 Community Update...A8 Care Bears.............B1 Real Estate.............Cl Focus....'............... C8 Best Wheels........... D1 Classifieds..............D 3 Sports.................. D4 Partial Delivery : QEP student sees poverty first-hand in Nicaragua T e e n le f t w a r m th o f h o m e to w n to d e liv e r to y s , f o o d to im p o v e r is h e d c h ild r e n By Melanie Cummings S P E C IA L TO T H E B EA V ER This Christmas, 17-year-old Ashley Burtch will enjoy the season wrapped in the warmth of her family, but her thoughts will be thousands of miles away, in Nicaragua. The Grade 12 Queen Elizabeth Park Secondary School student returned from the Central American country Dec. 15. For 1 1 days, Burtch and 20 other Canadian youths hand delivered 4.(XX) shoe boxes, or Samaritan's Purses as they are known, filled with practical items and toys for impoverished chil dren living in Managua. N ica ragua's capital city, and in Sabana Grande, a smaller city seven hours north of Managua. Even though Christmas is cele brated in this Christian country, a lot of the children who received a shoe Ashley Burtch box had never asso ciated the holiday with gift giving. One girl to vyhom Burtch presented a box had been hoping for a pair of shoes -- she had none. Almost by a miracle, inside were a pair that fit her perfectly. While there, Burtch also helped feed 50() children in one day. while working in a centre, and hand wrote instructions from English to Spanish for prescrip tions while volunteering at a medical centre, where 400 patients passed through in one day. The whole experience was " com pletely overwhelming" to her. " I've never seen poverty up close before, photos have never done this jus tice," said Burtch. Images of a scene at city dump, a shoe box distribution centre and med ical clinic are forever etched in her memory. The dump itself is massive, a dozen trucks within half an hour unload rou tinely. Burtch saw children clamber to hitch onto the back of these trucks so that they could be there first when the trash is unloaded and improve their chances of picking out the `best' garbage. Prime selections are leftover food, cardboard and tin to rebuild their shanty homes, and refundable pop bot tles. A similarly jarring experience for Burtch occurred during the second-last distribution of gift shoe boxes. 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