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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday December 5, 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 DAVID HARVEY General Manager 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 Better late than never A proposed earlier start to Town of Oakville council meetings may be convenient for Town staff and councillors, but may not serve the best interests of residents. For many people the current 7:30 p.m. start time to council meetings can be difficult to make -- especially when many commute. Gridlock being what it is, not to mention seasonal weather conditions muddying the drive, coupled with the need to eat some dinner or make provisions for children on the homefront, the 7:30 p.m. meeting can be difficult to attend, let alone 7 p.m. -- or the originally proposed 6:30 p.m. If an early start time precludes or dissuades residents from taking part in the democratic process -- something Oakville residents are particularly noted for -- it would be a shame. Also, for many ordinary residents, speaking before Town council can be a stressful experience and they surely don't need the added stress of being rushed in order to get to the meeting on time. Then there is the proposed time change to the end of meetings -- 10 p.m. (which could, upon council agreement, be extended to 10:30 p.m.) in comparison to the current 11 p.m. meeting closure (which can be extended to 11:30 p.m.). While it's true that late nights may not make for good decisions, council should consider workload. When the future of north Oakville was the subject before council, meetings that ran to 11:30 p.m. often had to be extended -- to sometimes two, if not three, nights a week -- just to hear from all the delegations. It was Ward 3 Councillor Keith Bird, who changed the originally proposed new 6:30 p.m. start time to 7 p.m., as the veteran politician, who is himself retired, expressed concerns about the potential impact on people, including councillors, who work out of town. Bird noted some people ran for office understanding it as evening employment. Similar to proposals to change council meetings to daytime events -- which would not accommodate many residents' participation -- recommendations for an earlier start time for meetings, we believe, is ill advised and should be rejected. Involvement of residents in local government should be facilitated, and if Oakville is lucky enough to have residents who care to get involved, it should do everything to ensure they stay involved. 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: Book not a closed case (Nov. 23, Oakville Beaver) Interesting the head of the HaltonPeel Humanist Community is conducting media interviews about how outraged she is that the Halton Catholic District School Board has removed an anti-God, antiChristian book that promotes atheism. I haven't seen any news releases or media interviews from this group calling for sanctions in response to the British teacher imprisoned in Sudan because her Humanist reaction to book review offended some Catholics students named a teddy bear Mohammed. Nor is the group going public with outrage that a young woman who was the victim of gang rape will be facing 200 lashes under Sharia law as punishment. That a Catholic school board would conduct a review of a book that clearly goes against the values and teachings of the Catholic church sends her into a rage. I wonder if she would feel this way if a Jewish school decided not to stock Mein Kampf in its library, or is it just the Christian faith that comes under such scrutiny for Halton-Peel humanists? This group seems to have a poor sense of priorities. The head of this group should give her head a shake. Unlike humanists and atheists who annually call for bans on Christmas trees and the words Merry Christmas, no one is advocating a ban on these books. The book is still widely available at bookstores and public libraries, and the movie will be in theatres across the country. Most Christians will use the book and BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com upcoming film as an opportunity to engage their children in intelligent discussions about their faith. Christians who are faithful can withstand challenges to their beliefs and welcome intelligent dialogue about their relationship with God. Finally, let's remember that the most notorious book burnings in recent memory, not to mention the largest genocides, were conducted under orders of men without any religious faith, such as Hitler, Stalin and Mao. LAURA SHARP Snow: 1 Town: 0 If the snowfall Sunday is indicative of how the Town plans to clear the snow, we're in for a bleak winter. Sure, rain had been predicted by evening, but functions took place before Mother Nature cleared the streets. Patrons attending two soldout performances of The Nutcracker at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts had to wade through several inches of slush and water at major intersections, such as Lakeshore Road and Navy Street, because the snow was only partially cleared. The sidewalks in front of the library were cleared only part way. It was a lousy way to serve the citizens of this town. MARCIA TODD Pud The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. 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