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Bronte Creek Provincial Park must he saved |mm Dear Sir: The people of Oakville and surrounding area have a wonder- ful natural resource in the Bronte Creek Provincial Park (north- east of Bronte Creek). This tract of land is home to hundreds of species of birds and many wild animals including herds of deer. coyotes. foxes and even a colony of beaver. Thousands of people every year use the trails in the park for family hikes, horseback riding. Word continues to spread and people keep coming, even though the parking lot has been closed and none of the trails are groomed. Walking along a trail one seems miles from civiliza- tion. Mature trees mute traffic noise and neither tarred roads or fast food restaurants interrupt Death penalty fair treatment for drug dealers It was that kind of thinking that saw the annual deficit rise through the 'good' years to $34.6-billion in 1986, reaching a decade-low point in 1988 at $28.2- billion. It has done nothing but rise ever since. And despite Mazankowski's pre- diction that it will decline to $32.6-billion next year, don't hold your breath. And while all of this financial waffling is going on. the national debt. that is the cumulative effect of yearly deficits, continues to rise. It's about S458-billion as of now and it's estimated to hit $491 -billion next year. Nelve years ago. that figure was WI-billion. The budget and the handling of our national economy is not only a disgrace, it's a calamity. The bottom line, and there's a phrase you won't hear from any federal finance minister, is this: Ottawa has been spending money like it was water for far too long and it's Finally caught up to them and us...the taxpayers. After the last recession, the economy took off but it was a false recovery based on borrowed money, inflated values for goods and services and growth rates that weren't based on any sound economic model. Yet when billions of more dollars came into the coffers of the feds, did they apply these funds to the deficit? Of course not. If we've got the money now. they reasoned, let's spend our way into the hearts of the public and assure our position as political win- nets. Dear Sir: The news item by "Beaver" reporter Sal Bommarito "Two arrested in $4,000 cocaine bust" begs the question - "What is the proper penalty applicable to both charged arrestees if proven guilty?" And that's what Mazankowski's budget really was-a political as opposed to a financial report. The finance minister was really saying that his party has a leadership convention coming up in June so I'm not going to take any kind of positive (read unpopular) deficit-cutting measures until after our new leader- cum prime minister, is chosen. Enter the cynicism. The trouble with most budgets is that they're really the ultimate sleight-of- hand trick with the finance minister throwing around billions of dollars like so many grains of sand. When he says there will be program cuts, does he mean cuts from existing programs or cuts from the expansion of programs already approved? In this latter case, the result is growth, despite the illusion of cost cutting. That's cynical government, that's cynical accounting and it's crass polit- ical posturing at the expense of the nation. Take your mind back to last winter when Mazankowski said the year's deficit would be $34.4-billion. That number proved to be only $1.1-billion short of the mark. Given the timeframe. you can see how much faith the aver- age taxpayer should have in Mazankowski's deficit-debt numbers he projected for the next few years. Forget them. The fact that two mature adults, are accused of tramcking in cocaine; possession of cocaine (street value $40,000) for pur- pose of trafficking; possession of other restricted drugs and weapons, etc. should lead to the "Death Penalty". y bother? No matter who happens to be responsible to: public WZpending. the result of their number-crunching is more often at l'utry tale rather than a statement of fact and policy. The Charade again played itself out Monday afternoon With the federal bud, get of Finance Minister Don Mazankowsku. There was nothing new. nothing imaginative. nothing concrete and nothing to give any of us hope that the debt load that is stalling a sluggish economic recovery, will be reduced as predicted. For the budget document, like most of Ottawa's position papers, is nothing more than a guess and wishful thinking on how the economy will evolve in the coming years. With nothing on which to base their projections except hunches, the federal money mandarins head to their calculators and come up with num- bers that will prove to be wildly wrong....again. That's one thing you can always count on in any Canadian budget, projections of income and the resul- tant deficit will be low. The damage done to the Canadian citizenry, both physi- cally and monetarily by convict- ed drug shovers, notwithstanding their criminal acts, help support the many killings in Colombia, S.A. Let's equate such activities with "Death" if convicted. There are countries in Asia meeting out "Death" with excel- lent results. Canada should get 'backbone' to protect this society from this scourge. - a. ", .‘ , _ V my... mm. .»:.:.s.. q "ir/ Ill..".|)1'u-I'.Hu.u| (HM‘IHv (H 845-3824 Fax. 845- (lccuiuul /\dvx-tlr.un1 [ME 1‘... ..| ”I... mummy) tit Mil EDITORIAL A.L. Pangborn The big lie the landscape or create garbage. We are about to lose this land Re: Your article “Consultant recommends keeping paediatric beds at 0.T.M.H." - published April 14th, 1993. I was quite pleased by your continued coverage of the campaign to retain paediatric services at O.T.M.H. However, I feel the article diminished the scope of the issue to many readers. Your article failed to accurately depict the number of concerned people within this com- munity. Approximately 25 people are actively participating in the prepara- tion of a brief for submission to Dr. Atkinson (consultant). In addition, Save Oakville Paediatrics has obtained more than 5.000 petition sig- natures from Oakville and area residents (and petitions are still being received despite the April 15th, cutoff date). In fairness to the concerned parents. grandparents, aunts. uncles. nurses, doctors, and countless other community members who have attended several information and organizational meetings, trivializing the magnitude of S.O.P.‘s very supportive following is both demean- ing and counterproductive to this worthy cause. Further, a press release was issued prior to publication specifically stating the continuing concerns of S.0.P. yet no reference was made to this. This is particularly unfortunate in view of HDHC Chair. Shelagh Gill's comment that, "Those people who were concerned should be very pleased." Had the specific concerns stated in the S.O.P. press release been presented in the article, your readers would be better informed on the issue - understanding why S.O.P.'s concerns have not been fully alleviated. Instead, continued vagueness and use of phrases such as "average consumer" may have perpetuated an incorrect per- ception of a small, non-average group of people with ill-founded con- cems. Many individuals concerned over future of OTMH paediatric unit In closing, it is my hope that this letter will convey that Save Oakville Paediatrics is representative of a significant number of Oakville and area residents with legitimate concerns and an eagerness to participate at every level of the study. I look forward to your future articles with regard to this important community issue. Dear Sir FHONTE' ALONE CALL845-5585 n a i"alry _§FEAK your: MIND] Got a gripe? Give us a call. Readers are invited to express their opinion on a topic of their choice by calling 845-5585, box 5250. All callers are allowed 45 sec- onds to express their opinion and must provide their name, address and phone number for verification. A cross section of the responses will be published in next Wednesday's Oakville Beaver. There are currently in camera meetings taking place between (ggi: §<29 The Oakville Beaver webomes your comments. All letters mus! be signed and include the writer‘s address and phone number. Letters should be typed, death-spaced and addressed to: We to the Editor. The Oekvllle Beaver. Mit Spoon Rd., OelrvIlle, Ont. Mk 334 DRIVEN BY THE LITTLE GD , '.ssjsrii,l,l' 'il,tj'i)il) Classiiied Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 or 845-9743 Alison Guzak 845-3824 Fax: 845-3085 I'l IE ()AKVIILIC BL'AVlil WE PC LADYZ. akville. Ont, L6K 95531541“ an the Province of Ontario and the Hilton Regional Conservation Authority with a view to handing over the management of the park to the region. If this happens, Halton Region proposes to make the park "cost effective." The Halton Regional authorities have drafted future plans for this land which would include a large campground/trailer park with a paved access road from Dundas Road and an extension to the Upper Middle Road, a four-lane highway through to Burlington. Our park will be destroyed! ing behind this is an attempt to reduce their debt load by hand- ing over management ot provm- cial parks to the various regional authorities. I am very concerned with the attitude behind these plans. Should every green area be looked at in terms of how many buildings and roads can be constructed? Should use of parks be restricted for one purpose i.e. campgrounds, waterparks, etc. and thereby excluding the major- ity of the population? Do we really need more roads, more buildings? With farms to the north and housing developments to the south if the park is destroyed where will the wildlife presently in the park go? This is the last natural space in Oakville for us to enjoy with our families. The question regional officials should be ask- ing themselves is not how can we make this land "cost effec- tive" but how can we preserve it in its natural beauty for our chil- dren and their children? I am not an environmental activist nor have I ever previous- ly written a letter to a newspaper but this seems to me to be of crucial importance to all of who have a stake in the future this area. Public hearings will be held shortly, they will be advertised. Please, let us make out voices heard. For tr, "ov ciiiNr Linda Fuciarelli the reason Ian Oliver Publisher Robert Gin-boy Advtutisirrq Din Norman Alexander Editor Geoff Hill Circulation Director Teri Can- Uf/ke Manager Tim Colel Production Manager of iii v _iiii, b i'iiitii)F2," In response to Claudio Furlone's letter (Apr. 16th). I also read the article by Ms. Hart and quite enjoyed the humorous account of her hospital stay. This column was not written with the intent,of offending anyone, particularly OTMH staff. Articles such as this that poke harmless fun at oneself or others is the equivalent to an artist's caricature drawing - a highly exaggerated and humorous portrait of a person or situation. I don't know Ms. Hart personally but I don't feel her article was a derogatory slam at either "Attila the Hun" or the "Blood Lady". It certainly did not make me feel negative toward hospital staff in any way. I believe OTMH hospital staff enjoy a good reputation and that most of them did not feel threatened (and may even have had a chuckle) over Ms. Hart's column. We all take umbrage so easily now. We are so preoccupied with whether or not we are being discriminated against that we can no longer recognize, or enjoy, humor. Humor has helped us through personal crisis as well as world wars. I am reminded of Bob Hope when he entertained troops on the front lines. He singled out sol- diers, embarrassed them, made them the butt of his jokes, they laughed at leaders and the horror of war itself. He made them smile, forget and even hope (pun intended) for awhile. The ability to laugh at oneself is healthy. Humor can sometimes keep us out of hospitals or make our stay there seem shorter and less painful. his: If I were to refer to my dog as "mommy's little apple dumpling" would someone actually think I believed that she was. I'll have to watch that from now on ... it's a Bitch! __ LETTER OF THE DAY - Whatever happened to having a sense of humor? [OS Dear Sir RE: Lem The 10 most popular shows of the 1970s tit :1va w Letter to the editor April 16th issue entitled: 1'flttlqmiLstro. WEEKLY FOCUS [I I' " FM AIA fl N1 Whilby n mm tt /féijispy Candy McLean " All!“ oily Ia mm " Graphrc I Mt I tt,Utr,'4 Weak thh Lou' J9 MA