The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

OPINION With its recent ban of The Golden Compass, the Halton Catholic District School Board is earning itself a reputa- tion as a reactionary organization. Its first move in this direction was pulling out of the Halton Campus plan because trustees didn't want to share the same facilities as other non-Catholic groups The Halton District School Board, Halton Regional Police Service and Halton Region. That move contradicted the wishes of many of the board's own school communities and put it in a difficult position where some of its administrative buildings are literally falling apart and there is no provincial funding available to replace them. Next, trustees decided to pull Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass from elementary library book shelves fol- lowing a complaint about the author's atheist viewpoints. The book was initially removed pending a report from the board's own book review committee, but was perma- nently banned last week, despite the review committee's recommendation to keep it in school libraries. The ban also went against the wishes of Milton Trustee Rev. David Wilhelm, who argued the controversy was actually drawing more attention to the book. Indeed, The Golden Compass had been on the board's elementary library shelves for 12 years without controver- sy, before publicity over a new movie based on the book prompted its removal. It's not far-fetched to imagine some youths are now reading the book out of curiosity or rebelliousness and may never have heard of it prior to the school board's ban. Ironically, by banning the book the board is actually behaving much like the protagonists Pullman writes about in The Golden Compassthey are repressing free speech and arguments opposed to their doctrine. Pullman is not against the values of Christianity (or for that matter other religions), so much as he opposes the dogma and authoritarian control exercised by many orga- nized religions. The Halton Catholic trustees should have considered this before they imposed a ban on The Golden Compass and the rest of the His Dark Materials trilogy. While the Catholic board trustees feel they have acted in a responsible manner, their actions have probably attracted more attention to the book than existed before. Ironically, trustees may eventually end up wishing they had exhibited a little more faith in the faith of their young students. 2007s worst decision The Independent & Free Press is published every Wednesday and Friday at 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown Ont., L7G 4B1. It is one of several newspapers published by Metroland Media Group Ltd. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for sig- nature will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the acceptable rate. In the event of typographical error advertising goods or services at wrong price, goods or ser- vices may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell which may be withdrawn at any time. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Price: Store copies 50 each; Subscriptions $26 per year by carrier; $92.50 per year by mail in Canada; $130 per year in all other countries. Plus G.S.T. Second Class Mail Registration Number 6869. The Independent & Free Press is a member of The Canadian Community Newspaper Association and The Ontario Community Newspaper Association. Steve Nease THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear editor, The following is a letter from my 10-year-old daughter that she sent out. I was hoping you would put something in your paper so that she can get as many people as possible out to her event. Hi everybody, My name is Makayla Pereira and Im 10 years old. Last month, a little boy who everyone loved very much named Aidan Benoit (note he was from Georgetown) died from cancer and I thought that was really sad. On Wednesday, I went to the hospi- tal for Sick Kids in Toronto, and my good friend Michelle came with us, who was best friends with Aidan and it was really hard for her to go back. So, I decided to do my part and try to raise as much money as I can for neuroblastoma cancer research in honour of Aidan Benoit. Im going to walk five kilometres on January 3, which would have been Aidans fourth birthday in memory of Aidan. Im calling it the Aidan Walk. All the money I raise will be donated to the Hospital for Sick Kids to help research neuroblas- toma cancer. I will be walking from the Canadian Cancer Society at 201 County Court Blvd to the Rose Theatre in Brampton. To make sure that Im safe my mom and a few friends will be walking with me Im asking everyone I know to sponsor me because I want to raise as much money as I can. You can join the walk with me if you want. If you want to sponsor me, please e-mail my mom at janettpereira@rogers.com she will help me to collect the money and bring it to Sick Kids. Thanks everyone, Love Makayla P.S. If you know anyone else who would like to sponsor me please send them this letter too thanks. (After the walk there is going to be an after walk celebration hosted by the Perfectly Pampered Princess. For a small fee kids can do crafts, get updos, manicures, and pedicures with all proceeds going to Aidans walk. All are welcome to attend. It will be hosted at the Rose Theatre.) Janet Pereira, Brampton Youngster to walk in memory of local boy Letters to the editor must include an address and daytime telephone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 200 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1 E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Something bugging you? Publisher Ken Nugent Advertising director Steve Foreman (sforeman@independentfreepress.com) Retail advertising manager Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@independentfreepress.com) Managing editor John McGhie (jmcghie@independentfreepress.com) Distribution manager Nancy Geissler (distribution@independentfreepress.com) ADVERTISING Advertising co-ordinator Jennifer Christie (jchristie@independentfreepress.com) Retail Sales: Jennifer Spencer (jspencer@independentfreepress.com) Brendan Louth (blouth@independentfreepress.com) Amy Sykes (features@independentfreepress.com) Real estate: Sue Spizziri (realestate@independentfreepress.com) Classifieds: Kristie Pells (classified@independentfreepress.com) ACCOUNTING Rose Marie Gauthier, Michelle McEachern 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) PRODUCTION: Mary Lou Foreman, Kevin Powell, Shelli Harrison, Dolores Black, Debbie MacDougall STAFF DIRECTORY Send us a letter! Phone: 905-873-0301 Fax: 905-873-0398www.independentfreepress.com Dear editor, The following comments by John Sommer appeared in our local paper in 1993 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Georgetown Arts and Crafts: Like a pebble thrown into a pond the group has made waves in the growing awareness of arts in Canada. Many have made a name for themselves far beyond Georgetown. It is with great sadness that we wish to report the disbandment of the Arts and Crafts of Georgetown after 65 years. As it is with many guilds, clubs, associations and volun- teer groups, the number of partici- pants dwindle. The group has come full circle as it was started with five members and will close with a simi- lar number. We will, however, continue to meet socially as our friendships and common interests go back many years. We continue to share memo- ries of the great artists and friends who were members and fellow trav- elers on our road. Thank you to the Georgetown community which participated in our sales at the former Riviera in Norval, the Oddfellows Hall, the North Halton Golf and Country Club, St. Georges Anglican Church and Holy Cross Church. We hope that other associations will constantly renew themselves by attracting people who have a love and commitment to the age-old crafts that are a source of our well- being and joy. Many thanks to Independent & Free Press reporter Ted Brown for spending hours with us recently at our last group meeting. We were pleased to share our personal experi- ences and memories. Audrey Brown, Jessie Milton, Siglinde Knoespel, Eva Middleton, Jean Rugg and Jennifer Barnett Georgetown Arts and Crafts Disbanded group comes full circle More letters page 8 6 Independent & Free Press, Wednesday, January 2, 2008