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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday May 11, 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 IAN OLIVER Group Publisher 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 MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Patriotism, Valour and Honour Wednesday's news of the passing of 106-year-old Dwight Wilson, Canada's penultimate living veteran of the First World War, is a sombre reminder of how vital it is that we remember all those who have served our nation in the name of freedom during wartime. In 1915, at the tender age of 14, Wilson trained to be a mounted bugler in the militia. The following year, after managing to convince military officials he was old enough to enlist, he joined the 69th Artillery Battery of Toronto. After training at camps in Niagara and Petawawa, he shipped out that fall. His real age was discovered soon after arriving in England following a two-week sea voyage. Instead of frontline action the underaged Wilson was assigned to trench-digging duties with a reserve unit based in Dover. He was subsequently sent home in early 1917. The following year -- still too young to join the war effort -- he attempted to re-enlist, but the war ended before he could get back to Europe. When the Second World War erupted a 38year-old Wilson attempted to enlist, but was considered too old. His story, like many of the Canadian men and women who have volunteered to go to war over our nation's nearly 140-year history, was one of patriotism, valour and honour. With Wilson's passing this week Canada's last living veteran of the Great War is John Babcock a resident of Spokane, Wash., who took up U.S. citizenship roughly 60 years ago. Approximately 650,000 Canadians served in the First World War; 69,000 of them made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of our nation's freedom. Before too long our country will have lost all of its living connections to the Great War. And when that day arrives, the obligation to keep alive the memories of Canada's First World War soldiers -- and all who fought before them and since -- will be left to those of us who remain. Remembering them is the least we can do to honour the freedom for which they fought and died. 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 Mayor responds to criticism of Twin Rinks purchase I write to explain the strategic value of the Town's acquisition of Twin Rinks and to correct misinformation about the price advantage Town ice user groups will get from the addition of the two sheets of ice to the Town's asset base. A recent letter -- Town purchase of Dominion Twin Rinks ill advised, Oakville Beaver, May 4 -- incorrectly claimed that boys and girls hockey groups are subsidized by the Town for ice time they purchased from Twin Rinks. The boys never were; the girls were only subsidized once, two years ago because of the failure of the Glen Abbey arena to open on time. As a result of the Town's acquisition, boys and girls hockey and all other ice users will be advantaged because more ice will be available at lower rates. (More good news: we have already successfully completed the necessary repairs to the arena's ice plant). A vital strategic consideration also motivated Council to acquire the arena. Next year, we must renew our Development Charges By-law. The ability of the Town to charge developers for future recreational facilities in new growth areas is based on the number of such facilities we already have. Thanks to the two sheets of ice we acquired, we will be able to collect more money from development for more new ice arenas than we would have been able to collect without the acquisition. We could not have built such a facility in time for the forthcoming development charges by-law, so the chance to acquire Twin Rinks was an especially powerful piece of good luck and timing for the Town and its residents. It was also BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com an especially good demonstration of financial skill by Town staff. Fortunately for the Town and its residents, all members of the current Council were far-sighted and strategic in their thinking and able to see the outstanding value of this opportunity to make real progress on our goal of making Oakville the most livable town in Canada. MAYOR ROB BURTON TOWN OF OAKVILLE 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. Pud