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6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday November 25, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com T h e Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd,, Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Hie Oakville Beaver Is a member of the Ontario Press Council. Tlie 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 ·is protected by copyright Unauthorized use is prohibited. Commentaiy Guest Columnist IAN OLIVER Group Publisher NEIL OLIVER Publisher TERI CASAS Business Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director CHARLENE HALL Director o f Distribution RODJERRED Managing Editor WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: A|ax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herakti'Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Banie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harrlston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist &'Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Minor, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton . Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarlngton Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond HIII/ThomhillA/aughan Liberal, Scarborough Minor, StoufMlle/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian I work only for you Garth Turner Halton MP f you voted for me Jan. 23, the news is simple, but shock ing. I was expelled from the Conservative Party for open ing my mouth too often, having too many opinions and saying my voters outweighed my party. The party then decreed I could not run as a Tory -- ever. Stephen Harper' s government of Stephen Harper, you could say, has declared war on the MP for Halton. Some voters think they're disenfranchised by this: Some feel they voted for a Conservative, and I just happened to be the candidate. Others have no idea how an Indie MP could be as effective as one who belongs to a party, especially the one forming gov ernment. And I can guarantee that those running against me in the next election will be telling you Garth Turner is now a politician without influence. So here is my take on this. Hear me, on these questions I have been asked. As an independent MP, can you help me the same way? For sure. I have the same office, staff, resources, access to government programs and ability to solve problems and seek answers, from a missing cheque to immigration or legislation. Will you be as effective in Ottawa? I can, and will, be far more effective. As a Conservative MP I was prohibited from asking questions or speaking freely in the House of Commons. I could not bring in private members' bills and was forced to defend gov ernment decisions, like the new tax on income trusts, without being able to influence it. You cannot speak up in Caucus now, so aren't you less important? There has never been a free policy debate in Stephen Harper's national Caucus since he formed govern ment. This shocked and saddened me, since MPs are told of decisions after they're reached. There is no chance to tell the prime minister what voters want or think. Why would anybody in the government listen to you now? Because you do, and many other Canadians. I now for the first time since January have the ability to ask questions during Question Period (which I do every week), and this has resulted in getting issues of importance on the national agenda. My lobbying helped bring about income-splitting for all retired Canadians, which was announced a couple of weeks ago. I elected a Conservative because I support the government's policies. Won't you stand in the way of that now? Absolutely not. I am the same man with the same beliefs and values as I was on Election Day. I support less government, lower taxes, more breaks for middle class families, a better economy and more rights and freedoms. When the government asks me to vote on policies I agree with and campaigned on, my support will be there. When support is not merited, it will be denied. Will Halton be punished because of your rash actions? I'd argue the opposite. Every Canadian seems to know of the unprecedented action the prime minister has taken against me, and they are watching carefully. I think your MP has far more clout in than before, and will end up achieving more for this riding. Isn't politics weird? What about the next election? That is months away, and my focus now is on being the best MP possible, not getting re-elected. Rest assured the Conservatives will have a new guy gunning for me, and my challenge if I run again will be huge. But my platform will be in proving to you I can do this job well. It will be your choice. You rule. I know the disquiet my situation has caused. I regret it; did not ask for it. But life is unpredictable and I have found those who stick by their principles and convictions usu ally prevail over adversity. Trust me, I will not waver in the face of this, nor will I back away from the one belief that caused it all, I do not work for a party or a prime minis ter. I work for you. I RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Aocna Ontario Community Newspapers Association ^C N A Canadian Community ^5 Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: You can reach Garth Turner directly at garth@garth.ca. Even shiny happy guys are not immune to feared Man Flu philosophical sort once said: "Few cases of eye strain have ever been developed by looking at the bright side of things." Now, this is the kind of Saccharin, cliched quote that The Old Me would have pounced upon and mercilessly mocked, if I wasn't preoccupied with tossing my cookies over the nauseat ing cheeriness of it. But not The New Me. By nature I am admittedly not quite a cup' s-half-full kind of guy. Inherently I'm a cup's-half-empty (or a what-cup?) guy. But, alas, I've changed. I've purged from my previously poi soned person all the dripping sarcasm and all the flowing cyn icism. No longer gloomy and pessimistic, I've morphed into (drum roll, please) one of Michael Stipe's Shiny Happy People. I've become, in essence, Sunny Andy. I realize that most people choose the clean slate of January to make changes and resolutions - revolutions, in some instances. Contrarily, I've chosen November to turn over a new leaf, to create and unveil The New Me. But there is method (and timing) to my madness: November, you see, marks the official opening of the cold and flu season. And according to new psy chobabble (oops, ^orry, had an Old Me flashback there), rather, A according to new psychological evidence published in the Aussie journal Psychosomatic Medicine, people with "a generally sunny disposition" are less likely to fall prey to the dreaded seasonal men aces. Of course, The Old Me thought this was absolute poppycock, unmitigated hokum. But, as a certified hypochondriac who lives life in constant fear of falling prey to insidious infections and virulent viruses, I have shrewdly decided to err on the side of idiocy (oops) and give it a shot. I mean, what if these bozos (oops) are right? Hence the incarnation of Sunny Andy. Psychosomatic Medicine says that by building on a founda tion of "positive emotional style" I will be better equipped to ward off illnesses as my sunny disposition both boosts my immune system and makes me less anxious about the little bugs I might catch along the way. Yeah, right (oops). Speaking of the common cold and wimpy, hypochondriac males: according to a new British poll, apparently there are many men who are like*me - that is, men who suffer gravely from over-concern when it comes to the well-being of their bodies. Having conducted a survey of 2,000 Brits, researchers con cluded that there indeed exists a psychological condition they call "Man Flu" wherein men contend that they suffer more than women when they have colds. And, consequently, they take more time off work with common colds that they mistakenly believe are flu. To boot, the research revealed that men apparently whine more than women when they are sick (but, then, tell us some thing women don't already know). Men spend more money on medications. And, alas, 82 per cent of men will stay in bed hugging their teddy bears and secu rity blankets when they have a cold while their female counter parts are more inclined to just suck it up and head on into work! The Old Me would have scoffed at this survey. The New Me, well, not so much. I'm writing this from my beddie, you see. I have what my wife callously calls the "sniffles", although I know for a fact that I am suffering dearly with Man Flu. Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, vr contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.eam. J