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& ^otuSoxjSnA. EX PRESS HOTlL^'SUtTlS Q .E.W . & B ro n te Rd. Baby, what a great invention! Business G-whiz, what a Sport Utility Vehicle! Best wheels 9 0 5 -8 4 7 -1 0 0 0 M e rc e d e s -B e n z www.oakvillebeaver.com THE OAKVILLE BEAVER N O R T H A M E R I C A S M O S T A W A R D E D \ \ ' i : i > \ 'i ; s i ) A Y . N (> v i -:m C O M M U N I T Y h k u N E W S P A P E R 4 S l\K A M e t r o l a n t i P u b lic a t io n _m . Retiring teachers creating problems Gratuities blamed for $2.2-million budget shortfall Tim W hitnell SPE C IA L T O TH E BEAVER Teacher retirem ent gratuities at the Halton District School Board are being blam ed for most o f a $2.2-million budget shortfall. The board's business superintendent, Carla Kisko, will recom m end at tonight's (Wednesday) b oard m eeting that trustees use reserves Lump sum payments to cover w hat she-said to retiring Halton is a $2.2-million oper ating budget deficit District School Board for 2000-01. teachers see them The staff report puts em phasis on receive an average of $ 3 0 ,0 0 0 for teacher retirem ent gratuities as the main not being sick. factor in the shortfall. Gratuities are part o f teachers' negotiated agreem ents and have been offered at the Halton board for at least 30 years, explained Education D irector Dusty Papke. They constitute a lump-sum paym ent upon retirement. The payout is calculated by taking the num ber o f sick days a teacher has saved over their career and determ ining the value up to 50% o f one year's salary. A teacher is permitted 20 sick days over 10 months. Those unused sick days are banked and carried over to the next school year. The average payout would be in the $30,000 range for a long tim e teacher. A bout 150 teachers retired last year. The public board had budgeted for $278.3 mil lion in total expenditures for the last school year, (S ee `Special' page A4) When Santa came to tow n Peter C. McCusker ·O akville B eaver Every Santa Claus Parade needs a few elements to ensure its success...good weather, great crowds and good entertainment. Saturday's parade through the streets of downtown Oakville had it all. We don't know who was happier to see Santa, Gail Ferrazzi or Sarah, (top right) her two-year-old daughter. And as usual, the spectators, like Jessica Ledggett (middle left), helped contribute to some worthy causes, including Halton W omen's Place that sold red foam noses as a fundraiser. And who led the parade? None other than former Oakville Town Crier Betty Kading (left) who was Parade Marshal. For more on the parade, see Focus. Lawn pesticides could be banned By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STA FF Should O akville ban the use o f pesticides on private law ns? T h at's a question Town C ouncil m ay have to deal w ith in the future, but before doing so, it w ants to gauge public opinion. A t la st w e e k 's C o m m u n ity S erv ices C om m ittee several people spoke on the subject during a tw o-hour m eeting. A nd on M onday night, Tow n council directed Chris M ark, assistant operations director for Parks & R ecreation, to get public feedback on the issue and report to Council by May. A jo in t subm ission from M ark, and assistant Tow n solicitor Jennifer H uctw ith, outlined the im plications o f the recent landm ark Suprem e C ourt ruling that upheld H udson, Q u eb ec's deci sion to ban pesticides on private property. T hat ruling has O ntario m unicipalities like O ttaw a, H am ilto n , L o n d o n , C aled o n and T oronto -- and O akville -- rethinking the issue. The ruling show ed courts hesitate to tam per w ith governm ent decisions and that three levels (See `Town' page A2) Construction ready to begin on long-term care facility By Howard Mozel O A K V ILU E B E A V E R S T A F F After years o f financial planning, dem olition work and, at tim es, heartache, the new 128-bed long-term care facility on the old O akville Trafalgar High School (OTH S) site is being seen for w hat it really is: a hom e for those w ho built this com m unity and w ho have earned the dignity o f rem aining in town. That w as the consensus o f speakers, including Ontario H ealth M inister Tony C lem ent, during M onday's rainy groundbreaking for the longawaited facility - a cerem ony that plainly em pha sized the end-users. "They deserve to have the best quality o f care and quality o f life," said H alton H ealthcare Services (HHS) Board chair Barbara Burton. H H S, w hich operates O akville T rafalgar M emorial H ospital (O TM H ) and M ilton District Hospital, is building the new facility in partner ship with Extendicare which, w ith HHS, are cur rently partners in the 34-bed nursing hom e on the hospital's fifth floor. (This floor will soon be freed up for acute care beds.) "This developm ent exem plifies the benefits o f partnerships," said HHS president and CEO John Oliver. "I am confident that our seniors will bene fit from the full continuum o f care w hich will now be available to them ." Construction on the facility is slated to begin this spring with com pletion scheduled for spring 2003. Clem ent - w ho characterized the groundbreak ing as "the start o f a very special project " - said that while the phrase long-term care sounds very Peter C. McCusker ·O akville B eaver H ealth M inister Tony C lem ent operated the controls o f this backhoe M onday at the official groundbreaking o f the H alton H ealthcare S ervices' (H H S) long-term care facility at the old O T H S site on R eynolds Street, helping out with a shovel o f their ow n were: (1 - r) John O liver P resident & C E O o f H H S; Joyce S avoline, C hair R egion o f H alton; B arbara B urton, C hairm an o f the B oard, HHS; Janice W right, C ouncillor Town o f O akville; Shelly Jam ieson , P resident, E xtendicare. institutional, the end product will be anything but. Clem ent said that O akville's new facility is "O ur governm ent wants to m ake sure that all part o f the governm ent's ongoing, $ 1.2-billion O ntarians have access to quality health care investm ent in long-term care. T his includes through every stage o f their lives," said Clement. 20,000 new beds, 6,000 o f w hich will be open by "These new long-term care beds represent a new the end o f the governm ent's fiscal year in M arch era in caring for seniors that ensures their needs 2002. will be met w ell into the 21st century." (See `Facility' page A2) I Editorials............ ..... A6 Focus.................. ..... B1 Entertainment.... R4 n Best Wheels........ Classified............ ...... C5 r« Business.............. Sports................ ...... D1 D6 Tis the Season.... Special Supplements Full Delivery: M ic h a e l's Partial Delivery: Sport Chek, AbbeyAt, Alexandian Carpets, TheBay, Row Revy, Rom Lansing, Guardian Drugs, Home Depot, Party Packagers, Sheridan Xurseries, Hoopers Pharmacy, ClassicMaid, Future Shop, Sears, Blacks, Peoples, LakeshorePlace, M r. Gain, WhoDoes It? ' Canadian Publications Mail Product Agreement #435-201 C A N A D IA N S F IR S T y r M O RTG A G E^ S e r v i c e s _____ Q yn c. 1 year 3 year 5 year 2 .7 4 % 3 .5 % 4 .6 % 5 .4 % I PeterW vtson llil I N V E S T M ¥ N T S V a r ia b le R a te C a ll f o r d e t a ils . (9 0 5 ) 8 1 5 -1 3 2 5 150 RANDALL STREET, UNIT #100, OAKVILLE RETIREMENT PLANNING SPECIALISTS R a te s c u r re n t a s o f T u e s d a y , N o v e m b e r 2 0 , 2001 a n d s u b je c t t o c h a n g e w ith o u t n o tic e Free C o n s u lta tio n 842-2100 F e te rC W a ts o o M J U , C E P , R JR R .