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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday August 16, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Manager TERI CASAS Business Manager MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, Caledon Enterprise, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, 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/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian Half a park is better than none Sometimes it is better to look at the glass half full rather than half empty. Currently, Oakville Town Council seems to be looking at the glass half empty after reluctantly agreeing to allow Palm Place to build a 300-unit condominium development on the former Shell House property in Bronte, rather than pursue purchasing or expropriating the property. While we can understand the frustration of Ward 1 councillors Mike Lansdown and Ralph Robinson (they represent the immediate neighbours and most vocal opponents of the development), the implications for all of Oakville are not as terrible as some politicians would suggest. After all, the Ontario Municipal Board ruling which allows the developer to build 300 condominium units in three five to eight storey buildings, also provides the Town with a lakefront park at minimal cost on half of the contested property. While an ideal solution would have been for all of the former Shell House property to become a public park, the cost of that solution was prohibitive, especially since neither the provincial nor federal governments appeared willing to get involved with funding the purchase. Buying the entire property would have cost Oakville taxpayers at least $13 million, and possibly more. This bill would continue to climb with the addition of expropriation costs if the landowner refused to willingly sell. In addition, the Town would inherit the full costs for erosion control and the environmental cleanup for the property. The parkland would not come cheap. On the other hand, the OMB ruling gives the Town the western half of the lakefront property for next to nothing. In addition, the developer must pay for the environmental cleanup of the parkland and the bulk of the erosion control bill. Rather than focusing on the negative, there are some positive aspects to obtaining a lakefront park for next to nothing. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Six Nations peoples of the Grand River are reclaiming land in the town of Caledonia. I find your editorial (Oakville Beaver, Friday, Aug. 11) call for applying the "rule of law" to end what you characterize as a "protest" is superficial. Rather than reacting with impatience to the standoff of the past few months, I would encourage your publication to probe the deeper causes and historical context of the confrontation in order to improve public understanding of this issue and support dialogue with a view to finding just and The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Canada needs peaceful resolution to aboriginal peoples' land claims lasting solutions. Aboriginal peoples in Canada have waited long enough for their treaty rights to be recognized and land claims dealt with. Legitimate land claims have not been adequately addressed in Caledonia. The Haldimand Proclamation of 1784 granted to the Six Nations Confederacy six miles of land on each side of the Grand River. Today Six Nations lands comprise less than five per cent of that which was promised in the Haldimand Deed. For decades the Six Nations Confederacy has been patiently seeking to recover its lands. Several months before the current reclamation began Six Nations people and supporters organized a public information session to draw attention to the fact that the development was taking place on land over which Six Nations claimed ownership. For those raised to think that Canada is the "best country in the world" it is sobering to realize that, while this nation was becoming free of its colonial chains to Britain, we were actively engaged in our own colonial subjugation of indigenous people (some of whom regard themselves as a separate nation, i.e. not part of Canada). When pious eyes were turned to a distant apartheid regime in South Africa our backs were turned on the continuing oppression and suffering of those we have been living beside for centuries. While Canada has spoken for peace and justice on the global stage the injustices we have perpetrated at home are the roots of the current conflict. It's time for commitment to a peaceful resolution of land claims in Canada and it's time for the media to play a more responsible role in this process. BRIAN HOPKINS Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The 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.