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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday November 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 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 SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Don't turn a blind eye Earlier this month the Halton Violence Prevention Council marked the beginning of Woman Abuse Prevention Month by raising its banner at the Halton Regional Centre. It is disheartening to think that, in this day and age, public awareness is still needed when it comes to the issue of domestic violence. However, the sobering fact remains that Halton Regional Police laid more than 600 domestic violence-related charges last year with 84 per cent of those involving a male assaulting a female. In total, Halton Police received nearly 2,700 calls that involved situations between partners. Those calls resulted in 636 criminal charges being laid from everything involving assault to threatening to harassment. Thirty five per cent of those charges were laid in Burlington, 42 per cent in Oakville, 13 per cent in Halton Hills with 10 per cent laid in Milton. Det. Brett Wilkinson, who is the police service's domestic violence coordinator and a member of the Halton Violence Prevention Council, notes that by the time police intervene in a situation there has often already been a history of violence that has gone unreported. "The goal is to have women come forward before it gets to that point," said Wilkinson. If you know a woman or man who is a victim of abuse do what you can to get them help. Don't turn a blind eye. If you are hesitant to address the situation, cut out this editorial and leave it with them. We are fortunate in Halton to have a number of social service groups who can assist the victims. Among those groups are: · Burlington Counselling and Family Services, which can be reached at 905-637-5256, provides counselling for women in abusive relationships and their children, along with a Partner Abuse Response Program and a Caring Dads Program. · Halton Family Services offers counselling for female victims of violence and their children. Their number is 905-845-3811. · Halton Women's Place, which provides shelter for women and children, can be reached at 905-3321200. 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 Reader uncertain whether livable label suits town Re; The "Most Livable Town in Canada". I am, after many years, wondering if I want to continue to live in a town where: · a family would look at confidential CAS files mistakenly left at their home and use it for their own case benefit and call the newspaper about it; · the local newspaper would take the time to report on a family that finds confidential CAS files and where the newspaper admits to reading them themselves; · it is growing so fast that the Town notices for variances, expropriation of lands, notices of changes in land classifications etc. take up five pages of the local newspaper; · it is growing so fast that there are so many council meetings and public invited meetings each month that a person can no longer go to work to earn a living or spend time with their families because they are too busy spending time getting heard and protecting the Most Livable Town in Canada from unnecessary growth and development; · it is growing so fast that now violent gangs, armed teenagers and people who steal, rob and destroy are amongst us; · drugs seep down into our public schools; · we can't give enough to ensure our food bank is adequately stocked for those less fortunate during the Thanksgiving holiday; · we face traffic jams on a Saturday morning just trying to get to a local shop, · we can't get around without major construction detours; · we can't park at the Go Train station past 7 a.m. on a weekday or we won't get a spot or are forced to pay $500 per year to get a reserved spot just to take public transit; · small quaint houses just get demolished and new monster homes get built on all available property where the house does not meet monster home status; · we've lost our sense of small town. I do realize the world moves forward. Let's face it, in the eyes of the politicians we are just another part of the GTA. I get that we have to grow. How we grow and how we handle that growth is another matter. Our attitudes count. How we bring up our children counts. Our morals and values are what counts. Those are what will make us the Most Livable Town in Canada. It would help though if our politicians helped the cause and slowed down a bit so we can catch our breath and have time to teach and live our morals and values. LAURA MORRISON 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.