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Wednesday June 20, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A7 COMMENT Just call her citizen Hart I can't for the life of me figure out why Tony Blair hasn't rung me up to tell me I've been granted a title. Not that I'm exactly pals with the British prime minister. And I doubt that I'm on his top 10 list. In fact, it's probably quite naughty of me to hanker after a title when I don't even like the Queen on our money. I've often thought, silly me, that we are our own country, that maybe, just maybe we'd have a better sense of our own history with our own people on our money: not the Queen of England. Why must we continue to have the Queen on our money? I'd rather see more prime ministers, writers, artists, why even the odd lawyer (well, let's not be hasty) on the face of our coins than the Queen. Sure, she's a terrific lady. And the poor dear has gone through quite a lot in recent years. Think about all she's had to endure: the press, the press and the press. And still, she's up there with the Queen Mum (now there's a lovely lady!) still standing after all the royal scandals and embarrassments. It's a wonder she can even walk her corgis. I've got nothing against the lady, really. Still, all we do is complain in this country about the lack o f history instilled in our students. So why is it that we don't have our best people in the country on our own money? Let's trot out all our Order of Canada people all our heroes of the day, past and pre- DIANE HART A * sent - let's have Margaret Atwood, Oscar Peterson, Glenn Gould, Jane Jacobs, Northrop Frye, Robertson Davies, M ordecai Richler, Lawren Harris, Emily Carr - let's have all of them on our money. Why must we have the Queen? But let's not talk trivial matters. The fact that it practically kills me to have the Queen remain on our money is just one of those petty things that gets under your skin now and again. When it comes to titles, methinks everything else gets overlooked. Take the recent two elite titles grant ed to two Canadians recently. Prime Minister Jean Chretien expressed his annoyance to the British prime min ister at the bestowing of knighthoods on two Canadians - Welsh bom Ottawa billionaire Terence Matthews and head of Northern Ireland's Q ueen's University, Canadian bom George Bain. Our prime minister was practical ly frothing at the mouth as he got mixed up in this diplomatic row: you'd have thought it mattered to him that citizens of his own country wanted something that others couldn't get. Prime M inister Jean Chretien released what was called a "stinging" letter of protest over the granting of the elite titles without prior knowledge of Canada. Too bad for Conrad Black: he informed Ottawa about his quest of knighthood and Chretien clamped down fast. This did not please Mr. Black at all, as you can imagine. And, he couldn't seek solace anywhere. He even turned down the Globe and Mail columnist Jan Wong's generous invitation for lunch at that Medieval restaurant where surely he would be granted a title - at least for an hour. In this recent case, it's too late. The two titles sneaked under the door and two Canadians can now sign their names Sir whatever. Now, I know what the Brits are thinking: You'd have thought Chretien would be happy that Britain thinks so well of a few of our own humble Canadians to even consider to grant titles on them. England to Canada: You ought to be grateful, you good people, that we'd allow this in the first place. It's a clubby thing, these granting of titles. Imagine NOT wanting to be part of the title club. It's discourteous; it's jolly bad form; it's simply not done. And so, much as I keep waiting for the phone to ring, I just know it isn't going to happen. I'm going to be blocked by a prime minister who thinks (imagine!) it's more important to pre serve an egalitarian society than one that encourages stratification. I mean, one would think he wants everyone to be equal. Imagine that. SIDEWALK SALE JUNE 21-24 -- NOW THn n a c n i u B F SHOPI*ing . m | 24-hour information line (905) 279-SHOP (7467] | Price of rapid grow th m ore costly th an m oney For years it has been generally suggested that growth, with its resultant enlarged tax base, actu Letters ally generates increased net income for cashto the hungry local governments. However, recent E dito r financial analysis and information from the Region of Halton refutes this comfortable, conventional theory. A report recently issued by the Region of Halton states that planned and anticipated future growth will actually cost tax payers money, because the development charges paid by devel opers are not sufficient to cover the costs of all the infrastruc ture needed to support the growth. Additionally, the same report tells us that growth will also cause an increase in our utility rates. I encourage your readers to check this out for themselves: the study (CS-30-01) is posted on the Region of Halton's excel lent website at www.halton.on.ca Those on a fixed income will be particularly worried about the huge escalation in our long term debt with its attendant financing costs in the years to come. In further anecdotal support of this Regional report, one could argue that if growth truly brings financial prosperity to a community, then the Town of Oakville's coffers, based on the considerable growth we have experienced over the past 10-20 years, should be bursting at the seams now. They are not. Oakville is about to grow, as it never has before. -Almost 8,000 acres of farmland and forest are going to be released for development with the introduction of OPA (Official Plan Amendment) 198. Rapid growth will cost us plenty: decreased air quality, additional congestion on our roads, and the poten tial loss of our character as a `town'. Now we can add the loss of cold, hard cash to the list - out of your pocket and mine. Q ) OAKVILLE (9 0 5 ) 8 4 5 -6 6 0 1 C o u n c il & S ta n d in g C o m m it t e e M e e tin g s Michael Lansdown Monday, June 25,2001 Tuesday, June 26,2001 Community ServireeJ^wmittee Planning & Development Council 7jig C -Sa G ® 1 R°om Council Chambers A d r l^ ^ r tiv e Services Comm. 7:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. - Bronte Room Tuesday, July 3,2001 Council Meeting Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 9,2001 Planning & Development Council Council Chambers 7:30 p.m. C o u n c il & C o m m it t e e T o u c h t o n e P h o n e L in e 8 1 5 -5 9 5 9 NOTICE OF STUDY COMPLETION AND FILING OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY REPORT CLASS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT DORVAL DRIVE EXTENSION FROM REBECCA STREET TO LAKESHORE ROAD WEST The Town of Oakville has completed a Class Environmental Assessment Study for the extension of Dorval Drive from Rebecca Street to Lakeshore Road West. The study has been carried out in accordance with the Municipal Engineers Association guidelines for a `Schedule C' Class Environmental Assessment for Municipal Road Projects. The study has reviewed the need and justification for possible improvements to the existing corridor and evaluated alternatives for the extension. This Notice of Completion of the Environmental Study Report will be filed in the public record for review. The Dorval Drive Extension Environmental Assessment Study recommended road improvements to Margaret Drive between Rebecca Street and Lakeshore Road West. The preferred solution is to upgrade Margaret Drive from a two-lane, rural crosssection to a three-lane urban cross-section with safety and operational enhancements to accommodate pedestrian and traffic activity in the vicinity of St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School. During the study, public open houses and meetings were held on May 3r dand June 7* of 2000 and March 26*, 2001. The last __ SPEERS R D .j^ r ^ public meeting presented information on U | CO the need for the project, alternative design 5/ Study i solutions, analysis and evaluation of the A rea " alternatives, and the technically preferred : ca s u f ^ 1 / alternative. LAKESHORE 9 The Environmental Study Report is Sf.'Thoraas Aquinas ' j/ available for review at the following ^ Secondary School Propos) d D o ^ al locations during normal business hours: Q E W ^ 1 \ f y r -4 » I * / 1 -- j h1 - t * Drive Extension Town of Oakville Clerk's Office 1225 Trafalgar Road Oakville, Ontario Town of Oakville Public Works Department 2274 Trafalgar Road Oakville Ontario Central Library Oakville Public Library 120 Navy Street Oakville, Ontario Ooooh Canada! There are many reasons to celebrate at Wonderland this Canada Day weekend. Starting with our spectacular fireworks show on July 1" at 10:30 p.m., presented by Cadbury. We've also got great new rides, like the spin-sational SfcOCkMM. Then there's Zoom Zone, a great new area for kids featuring Silver Streak. Jumoln' Jet and Blast Oil! Want to enter a new dimension of fun? Check out Stan Lee's 7111 Portal, the new 3D action adventure ride at our Action fit Theatre. Come one, come all! The spell-binding Circus 01 Thrills 2, featuring the Globe of Death, is at the International Showplace. You can always chill out at Splash Works, our 20-acre water park. There's over 200 attractions with over 65 rides in all! So visit Wonderland this weekend and make Canada's birthday a very happy one indeed. «****» CANADA'S W 0 N D E R IA N Q Further information may be obtained from the Town of Oakville Public Works Department by contacting Scott McMillan, Municipal Project Manager at 905-8456601 exL 3308; or Tyrone Gan. of iTRANS Consulting at 1-888-860-1116. If there are concerns with the resolution of this project which cannot be resolved in discussion with the municipality, the public may request that the Minister of Environ ment order the project to comply with Part II of the Environmental Assessment Act. A Part II order addresses individual environmental assessments. Part II order requests must be received by the Minister at the address below within 30 calendar days of the proponent filing the ESR in the public record (ie: must be received by July 20,2001). A copy of the Part II order request shall be sent to the Director of Public Works at the Town of Oakville. Minister of Environment 135 S t Clair Avenue West, 12® Floor Toronto, Ontario M4V 1P5 Mr. Ray Green, P.Eng Director of Public Works Town of Oakville P.O. Box 310 Oakville, Ontario LtiJ 5A6 A project website is available at www.dorvalea.com. Information on the project is posted on the website and you are welcome to contact us directly through the website. This Notice Issued Wednesday June 20, 2001. For i n f o r m a t i o n c a ll (905) 832-8131 * w w w. c an a d as w on de rl a nd . co m Park open daily through September 3 and weekends to October 7. Splash Works is open weekends starting May 19 and daily starting June 30 through September 3. Hours subject to weather and lighting conditions, "o' 2001 Paramount Pictures, "n' 2001 Paramount Parks. 7th PORTAL, MONGORR, BEARHUG, VULTURA, STANLEE.NET, all related characters and the distinctive likenesses thereof are " & ' 2000 Stan Lee Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 1225 TRAFALGAR R O A D · OAKVILLE, O N T A R IO · L6J 5A6