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6 Independent & Free Press,Thursday, August 26, 2010 OPINION It's baaaack Halton almost made it through its first summer in several years without West Nile virus. Almost. The Halton Regional Health Department issued a warning to residents this week, after batches of mosquitoes infected with the virus were recently discovered in Oakville. WNV is a potentially serious illness that's transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. Symptoms may range from headache and high fever to neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation and paralysis. The Halton Region Health Department monitors WNV activity and has developed a comprehensive program that includes using adult and larval mosquito surveillance to determine the health risk of WNV to residents and visitors to the region. Last year marked the first year that dead bird surveillance was not a part of the Region's West Nile virus monitoring program, due to provincial funding cutbacks. While dead crows and blue jays have helped to identify areas where WNV activity is occurring, the health department believes mosquito surveillance provides better information related to potential human contact with the virus. That's why it's continuing a comprehensive program which includes using adult and larval mosquito surveillance to determine the health risk of WNV for residents and visitors to Halton Region. To report standing water close to where you live in Halton, call 905-825-6000 or e-mail wnv@halton.ca. While the arrival of fall's cooler temperatures will put an end to any threat of West Nile virus transmission from mosquitoes to humans, until that time, it is important for residents to take precautions against contracting or contributing to the spread of this virus-- like using DEET and removing any standing water from your property. Steps to help combat WNV and additional information about the virus can be found at www.halton.ca/health/. 905-873-0301 Publisher: Ken Nugent General manager: Steve Foreman (sforeman@independentfreepress.com) Retail advertising manager: Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@independentfreepress.com) Managing editor: John McGhie (jmcghie@independentfreepress.com) Distribution manager: Nancy Geissler (ngeissler@independentfreepress.com) Classifieds Kristie Pells (classified@independentfreepress.com) Accounting Rose Marie Gauthier Editorial Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@independentfreepress.com) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@independentfreepress.com) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@independentfreepress.com) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@independentfreepress.com) WEB POLL RESULTS In the future, how should the Canadian government deal with boats carrying migrants, like the Tamils who arrived in B.C. recently? · Bar all boats carrying immigrants who have not followed proper procedures for entering Canada (82%) · Accept boats carrying refugees as a humanitarian act (15%) · Not sure (3%) Steve Nease Go to www.independentfreepress.com Letters to the editor Barber project won't affect river Dear editor, Re: The letters to the editor Aug. 10, both the Sierra Club of Peel and Credit Valley Heritage Society spout the same eco-rhetoric about the Barber Mill site. They mention again about the natural corridor for animals to roam, yet their vision of museum/ educational/art gallery/student interpretive centre would require buildings also which would impede said corridor. This project would not affect the eastern river bank in any way and would remain a natural corridor. I would hope that the project would pay respect in some way to the history of the Barber Mill but who would foot the bill for a paper museum? Not our cash-strapped governments I assume. What I find really offensive though is that the term "resort" has never been used for this project and to assume that we have "already struggling businesses in Georgetown" tarnishes their credibility. Can these groups show us how this project would impact our local business or the 1,500 plant and animal species in the river valley? Letter writer Rob Stewart is right on when he says this is winwin for our town. With the public's input this could be a wonderful gem of a destination for our town. Perhaps these two groups could embrace this project and use it as a destination to showcase the Credit River valley to eco-tourists, students and visitors alike. Ray Eckert, Georgetown he didn't have the guts to challenge the Liberal governments in Ontario and B.C. He was our only hope and he dropped the ball-- big time. Instead of saying, "I'm the federal leader and you better start listening to me" he just faded away into obscurity. Michael, you lost millions and millions of votes in Ontario and BC. Then again, Stephen Harper didn't help either. I voted for John Tory in the last provincial election. It was the most distasteful thing ever. I had acid reflux all day, until I realized it didn't really matter. I couldn't vote for McGuinty because he'd broken all his promises in the first election. But John Tory had destroyed Kim Campbell's campaign with his eight-year-old mentality to attack Jean Chretien's mouth shape. So, true to form, he again shot himself in the foot in his own campaign. Please Conservatives, you are guaranteed success in the next election as long as you give us somebody we know absolutely nothing about to vote for. Steve Melville, Georgetown Unknown Tory is our best option Dear editor, I agree completely with your assessment of the McGuinty Liberals on July 20 (editorial-- Dalton's gang). They certainly have become excessively Liberal with my wallet. I signed three online petitions against the harmonized sales tax and wrote his office with my sentiments. I got three replies. The last was so full of lies and rubbish that I asked him not to contact me again because this letter was an insult to my intelligence. Federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff could have stopped it, but Letters to the editor policy Letters must include an address and daytime telephone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Publication is not guaranteed. E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. The Independent & Free Press The Independent & Free Press is published Tuesday and Thursday and is one of several Metroland Media Group Ltd. community newspapers. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.