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1 6 6 1L akeshoreR d .W .M ississauga *822-4211 Bakker talks about I Photographer takes shot Grey Cup experience at suburban sprawl Sports A rtscene NORTH TIIIT OAKVILLE AM ERICA'S MOST AWARDED CO M W IM IB H W m m m ssssm m Committee recommends election rebate plan D o n a tio n s to c a n d id a te s c o u ld b e e lig ib le f o r 5 0 p e r c e n t r e b a te D y in g w o o d lo t c lo s e d D e a d tr e e s p o s e s a fe ty h a z a r d By Kim Arnott S P E C IA L T O TH E B E A V E R By Kim Arnott S P E C IA L T O T H E B E A V E R Love your Town Councillor and want to give him or her some cash to help win re-election next fall? The Town's Administrative Services Committee has decided that donations should earn you a tax rebate. The committee voted unanimously on Monday night to approve a rebate program that would see voters receive up to $200 in rebates for contributions to candidates running in the 2003 municipal election. Contributions of $25 or more will be eligible for a 50 per cent rebate, which will come in the form of a cheque issued by Town Hall, following the receipt of financial statements by political candi dates. Only eligible Oakville voters, except candidates, their spouses and their immediate family members, will qualify for rebates. Businesses, trade unions and other organizations will not be able to participate in the program. The committee agreed to the plan, despite the fact that a citizens' commit tee it had appointed couldn't come to a consensus on whether the rebate idea had any merit. (See `Committee' page A3) Man killed crossing street A funeral was held Tuesday for 38year-old Mike Duchesne, o f Oakville, killed Friday near his home as he crossed Sixth Line. According to Halton Regional Police, it was around 4:40 p.m. when Duchesne was walking east to west across Sixth Line near Miller Road, the street where he lived, when he was struck by a southbound pickup truck. Duchesne was rushed by ambulance to O akville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later. The 52-year old male driver of the truck and his passenger were not injured. The road was closed for three hours while collision reconstructionists from the Regional Traffic Bureau conducted their investigation, which remains ongoing. Witnesses are encouraged to contact Det. Const. Rick Ferguson at 905-8254747 ext. 5202. Peter C.McCusker · Oakville Beaver ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A MILKBONE...: A pug named Ping which belongs to Jennifer Richardson gets his picture taken with Santa at Hopedale Mall Saturday afternoon. This popular event attracted a long line-up of pet owners and their pets, who kept Santa working overtime. T he trees in Iroquois S h orelin e W oods P ark are dying, and the T ow n has d ecid ed to im m ediately close the p ark to en su re public safety. Town forestry staff has recently discovered "an unprecedented high number of dead or dying trees" in the woodlot park, according to a staff report received by the Town's Community Services Committee on Monday-night. About 1.460 trees in the 35-hectare woodlot at the southwest com er of Upper M iddle Road and North Service Road are estimated to be dead. The trees, primarily red and white oaks, are being killed by a soil-borne fungus that rots out their roots. While the fungus is com mon in Southern Ontario for est ecosystems, it can kill trees that are already weak "This is not an area ened by other stresses, accord that can simply be ing to Bob McFarland, replanted. We need Director o f Parks and Recreation. a prescription to The phenomena is known make this forest as oak decline, and mature healthy again." stands of trees clustered together and stressed by the · Bob McFarland, drought conditions of recent Director o f Parks and years are very vulnerable to it, Recreation McFarland added. "This is not the first significant incident o f oak decline in the GTA," he said. The parkland is owned by the province, so Town staff will work with staff from the Ministry of Natural Resources to develop a salvage project for the woodlot. "This is not an area that can simply be replanted," said McFarland. "We need a prescription to make this forest healthy again." (See 'Falling' page A4) Injured councillor has message for motorists: `Slow down' J a n ic e C a s te r h a s tw o c lo s e ' e n c o u n te r s w ith o n c o m in g c a r s By Howard Mozel O A K V IL L E B E A V E R S T A F F Jan ice C a ster is black and blue this w eek from b ein g stru ck by a car D ec. 3 but accord in g to her, the ou tco m e could have been a w hole lot w orse. The Ward 5 councillor -- who was hit by one vehicle and knocked to the ground only to have a second car run into her truck -- believes that if a child had been walk ing in her place, police would be investigating a death. "Every day is a different kind of pain. I hurt all over, but I'm going to heal. I know how lucky I am," said Caster, who is less concerned about her aches and bruises (and broken toe) as she is about using her close call as a warning to drivers to remain focused. "If I can get one person to slow down, it will have been worth it." The ironic part of the mishap is that both vehicles involved were driven by mothers with school-age children inside, underscoring C aster's belief that those who should know better are in fact part of the problem. "Parents are always screaming at us about their kids' safety," she said. Caster lives on Poole Drive, one o f the routes taken by parents driving their children to River Oaks Public School on nearby Munn's Avenue. On the day in question. Caster was shuf fling family vehicles on her driveway around 8 a.m. and pulled her GMC Jimmy onto the street where she scraped off the windshield. As she tossed the scraper inside her (See `Councillor' page A3) II Editorials.................A6 `Tis the Season..........B1 Focus......................Cl Classifieds................ C5 ArtScene.................. C8 Sports...................... D1 Test Drive................. T1 Partial Delivery: Spo rtC h e k ,T h eB a y , S ta p lesB u sin essD e p o t. 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