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6 Acton/Georgetown, Friday, July 11, 2008 OPINION While its refreshing to see Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper exhibiting some leadership qualities at the G8 Summit in Japan, were not entirely sure his soft position on worldwide global warming emissions truly reflects what all Canadians want. By all accounts, Harper led the way in convincing fellow leaders from the United States, Japan, Russia, Britain, Italy, Germany and France to cut emissions in half by 2050 a gesture that has been sharply criti- cized by environmental groups. At this rate, by 2050 the world will be cooked and the G8 leaders will be long forgotten, said one spokesperson for Oxfam International. Not only is the target date considered too little, too late, but the agreement reached this week between the eight world powers allows each nation to set its own base year from which the 50 per cent emission reduc- tion will be calculated. Globally, Canada and the U.S. have long been viewed as among the two most reluctant nations on the planet to adopt real action to combat the effects of global warming emissions. When one considers that the G8 nations are responsible for more than 60 per cent of the carbon dioxide in Earths atmosphere (according to the World Wildlife Federation), we would have hoped they would lead the way to literally clearing our air. Instead, Harper reportedly told his G8 peers about his governments approach to the problem here at home, including refusing to meet Canadas obligations under the Kyoto Protocol for economic reasons. Harper trumpeted this weeks accord as an impor- tant advance, citing U.S. president George Bushs first- ever acceptance of long-term greenhouse gas cuts and the first time Russia has shared a similar sentiment. As we said before, it is nice to see Canadas prime minister taking charge on a world stage. Were just not sure that Canadians want to be known as leaders in the field of dragging our feet where global warming is concerned. Reluctant leaders Steve Nease LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear editor, I would like to bring to your attention a situation where the enforcement of the bylaw concerning street parking on all Georgetown municipal roads was ridiculous and hopefully was an isolated incident. On June 4 we were having some landscaping done and at 9:45 a.m. the contractor parked his vehicle on our driveway which necessitated leaving our two cars on Delrex Blvd. At 10:07 a.m. the parking enforce- ment officer stopped, recorded our licence plates and moved on, obvi- ously aware of the reason for our vehicles being parked on the street and that they were likely to be there longer than the three hours allowed under the bylaw. At 1:32 p.m. the officer returned and ticketed both cars for $20 each. Why couldnt the officer have used some common sense and exer- cised a small amount of discretion? I understand that had I telephoned the Town and advised them of this situa- tion ahead of time the parking bylaw enforcement would have been waived. I would wager that not many citi- zens in this community are aware that the three-hour limit is enforced and can be avoided by phoning the Town ahead of time. The Town should be prepared for a raft of phone calls connected with pool par- ties, yard sales, contractor projects, family functions and so on. Sherrell Sowery, Georgetown More awareness of parking bylaw needed 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. E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1 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) Andrea Lefebvre (alefebvre@independentfreepress.com) Brendon Stevenson (bstevenson@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 Something bugging you? What do you think? Below are the results of our most recent online poll. For the current poll go to www.independentfreepress.com The Town of Halton Hills plans to spend $210,000 in 2008-2009 on "green" initiatives? Is this too much money? It's too much (33%) It's not enough (20%) It's the right amount (47%) The Independent & Free Press is published Wednesday and Friday 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. THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS Dear editor, Way to go Acton Firefighters! This years display of fireworks over Fairy Lake was outstanding.Thank you to the volunteers for the many hours it must have taken to organize, prepare and execute this event. It was a brilliant end to a busy, fun- filled Canada Day. Hopefully the goodwill donations collected in the helmets, reflected the enthusiastic response of the crowds watching. P & V Jordan, Georgetown D & P Kyte, Terra Cotta J Jones, Suffolk, England Fairy Lake fireworks were fabulous Dear editor, Re: Happy 141st Birthday Canada! July 1st at St. Albans Glen Williams was a resounding success thanks to ALL the people who helped our congregation recognize Canadas 141st birthday by attending the chicken barbecue. The grounds were overflowing with the young and old as they waited in anticipation of the fireworks display. A special note of appreciation is sent to Don Ablett and Brent Cooper for providing top notch live enter- tainment for the musical interlude. This event was our biggest and best ever July 1st celebration and we look forward to hosting this event for many more years to come. Thank you very much, The Parish of St. Alban the Martyr, Glen Williams PS. Keep checking the Community Calendar sction in The Independent & Free Press for future events sponsored by the congrega- tion. Parish thankful for successful Canada Day Dear editor, I would like to thank the person or persons who returned the $40 that was left at the Plaza CIBC ATM machine. On Friday, June 27 I went to the machine to withdraw $40. About one hour later when I returned home, I noticed that I had not picked up the $40 or the receipt. I went back to the bank and checked with one of the tellers. Sure enough, she had the $40. Thanks again to all concerned. Deep down, most people are honest. Ed Hretchka, Georgetown Honest person turns in $40 found at ATM