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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 7, 2007 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: THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS A DIVISION OF Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Award-winning youths What do Devin Castilloux, Fiona Burgess, Emily Harris, Julie Harmgardt, Josh Gossen, Jeremy Gretton and Adam Mitchell have in common? They are all outstanding, community-minded citizens who were nominated for 2006 Ontario Junior Citizen of the Year Awards. And while Devin and Fiona have been selected to be among the 12 provincial winners, in our opinion all seven youths are winners. Residents can be proud of these seven youths for achieving a level of community activism far beyond that of most citizens of this great town. These shining examples of civic responsibility appear destined to become our community's future leaders. For their outstanding efforts, these youths were considered for a provincial honour proudly supported by this newspaper. Each year the Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA) asks its member papers -- including The Oakville Beaver -- to put the call out to readers for a word about communityminded young people. These junior citizens stand as examples for future generations of young people to follow. All of Oakville's young nominees should be proud of their accomplishments. By dedicating themselves to making their community better, they provide living proof that individual efforts can have a ripple effect by enriching many lives here at home and abroad. The Beaver salutes the unselfish efforts of these young people. They exemplify all the positive traits any parent would hope their own children would possess. In addition to providing role models for other young people, these exceptional junior citizens act as a reminder to adults of how powerful an impact giving back to the community can have. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 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. Ironic choice for billboard image A new set of signs went up this afternoon on the Shell House Lands in Bronte on Lakeshore Road, quite different from the ones in 2003, which alerted areas residents to the Official Plan Amendment (OPA) application the developer was making to build 1,000 units of high rise condos, yet these new ones are no less disturbing. They are advertising the soon-to-be constructed, massive eight-storey, 300-unit building and yet depict a serene and verdant lake view with a formidable tree perched at water's edge. Quite fetching and supremely ironic that the developer would choose as advertising the exact image of what their high-density housing will destroy forever. I guess the billboard does offer a ray of hope -- there is indeed one tree left standing on the waterfront in the idyllic lifestyle picture. Let's hope that after the multi-year construction project, complete with multi-storey underground parking and eight floors above ground, one of the venerable 200-plus- year-old heritage trees currently on the site actually survives the invasion. I'd hate to think there was no truth in advertising any more. MARY CASSIDY, MEMBER, BRONTE VILLAGE RESIDENT'S ASSOCIATION BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com Questionable decision Oakville Town Council has voted to contribute $25,000 toward a total cost of $343,000 to save a venerable old oak tree endangered by road construction. While we clearly need to protect our environment and to value beautiful old trees that take more than a human lifetime to reach maturity, I find myself wondering: Would we spend $343,000 to move one family displaced by road construction, or just in need of housing, food, clothing? Would we spend this much even on several families living in poverty? Would we be as quick to put this amount toward lowincome housing for the many who cannot afford shelter in Oakville? MARY ANN COVI Pud Council decision was obscene New definition of obscenity. Town of Oakville's support of this ludicrous idea -- 19,000 children in Africa die every day from malnutrition and we, the great people of Oakville stop a tree from being felled. Unbelievable. JUNE THURLOW 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.