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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday February 16, 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 Transparency in Public Matters Recently the Ontario Legislature passed Bill 130 which made sweeping changes to the way municipalities operate by giving them new powers and responsibilities. It also gave Ontario's citizens a power they've never had before; a method to challenge the legality of a closed-door council meeting. While this is an excellent first step, it does have some major shortcomings. For one, it only deals with municipal councils and their committees -- not hospital boards, school boards, boards of health, police services boards, library boards, college or university governing bodies, local Health Integration Networks, Ontario Municipal Board, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission, electric utilities or parks commissions. These public institutions either operate under rules that allow them to exclude anyone they want from meetings, or offer the public no way to challenge the decisions of these groups to shut the public out of what otherwise would be an open meeting. Although Bill 130 allows us to challenge a decision, it offers no consequences for a council that breaks the law other than a public report that confirms it. To address these concerns, Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor has introduced a Private Member's Bill, the Transparency in Public Matters Act, that would force meetings of these bodies (as well as municipalities) to be open to the public and would allow citizens to stand up for their right to access how decisions are made. Like Bill 130 it gives the public the right to challenge the closure of a public meeting; but unlike Bill 130 it allows the Information and Privacy Commissioner to disallow any decisions taken during an improperly held secret meeting. It also standardizes the list of reasons the public could legitimately be kept from the process, which is important given the hodgepodge of regulations that currently apply. Across Ontario there is a fatigue with governments at all levels. People, who are interested in being involved in the decisions that shape their communities, get frustrated when they are stonewalled by the very organizations created to work on their behalf. In order to fight this spread of this cancer on democracy and protect people's right to attend meetings, Ontario needs enforceable laws that make it not only easy, but in many cases possible, for citizens to participate in the process. The Transparency in Public Matters Act goes a long way towards making that a reality. 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. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Re: Five years of providing youth with somewhere to go article ­ Oakville Beaver, Feb. 10, 2007 by Mr. David Lea. I also attended the gathering at the Oakville Youth Development Centre on Feb. 6 celebrating its fifth year of keeping some of Oakville's youth "off the streets". But I was disheartened to realize that the reporter came away from that event missing one of the important aspects that we were acknowledging Oakville Rotary Clubs committed to supporting the OYDC that evening -- the contributions and support of local businesses and Oakville community members, especially that of the four Oakville Rotary Clubs to the OYDC. There were more Rotarians at that celebration than any other members of the Oakville community. We were there to represent a group of concerned Oakville citizens that was approached by the Town to provide additional financial support for the three year period 2005-2007 and to take an active role on the board of the OYDC developing and approving financial budgets, plans and programs. These Rotary Clubs became involved in the Youth Centre three years ago, when the centre was in the position of possibly having to close its doors due to under funding. This opportunity was a perfect fit for Rotarians who focus their support in their community and around the world on hunger, literacy and youth. The four clubs rallied together to make both a substantial financial commitment of $60,000 as well as providing four board members for each of our threeyear commitment. Over these past three years, we have also donated our time with sweat-equity projects. While working with the youth, we were able to BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com paint the entire centre in only one day. Rotary members also continue to fill some of the needs at the centre by providing paint for the centre, a microwave oven, additional funds for the Christmas parade float and often gentlyused furniture. We feel that Rotary clubs partnering with the Town brought legitimacy and affirmation, confirming that the centre was a very much needed facility for Oakville's youth. Rotary was extremely proud to be recognized by Town council last year for our contributions when the OYDC became a core funded program of the Town of Oakville. Even though our financial commitment has come to an end, we look forward to staying involved in an essential role by having Rotarians serve on the advisory board. Rotary also hopes that we would be able to offer similar support for the development of future sites, which are much needed in other areas of Oakville. SUSAN HOWARD, PRESIDENT ROTARY CLUB OF OAKVILLE NORTH Pud 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.