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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday September 17, 2008 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: NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER President Media Group Ltd. 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 ANCHOR Circ. Manager A lasting legacy Oakville has lost a valued member of the community with news of James Snow's passing. As MPP for Halton East and Oakville for 18 years, he was responsible for the establishment of Bronte Creek Provincial Park, the creation of the Ontario Agricultural Museum in Milton -- now called the Country Heritage Park, the construction of Hwy. 403 and the initiation of Hwy. 407, while serving as Ontario minister of transportation from 1975 to 1985. As a Cabinet minister he left a lasting legacy in Oakville and Halton. But there was more to Snow than his political life. He was also a farmer, entrepreneur and, perhaps, most importantly, a strong community supporter. Snow and his wife Barbara helped countless causes over the years and even made history with Milton District Hospital's largest-ever personal donation -- $500,000 to the hospital's CT scanner campaign. The couple went even further than that when they donated their farm, worth $2.5 million, to the Salvation Army. As so many long-time Halton residents know, that farm had been the venue for numerous functions both political and charitable over the years. In December 2006, the Snows established, through the Community Foundation of Oakville (CFO), the James and Barbara Snow Family Fund, a designated fund, which will support six of their favourite local charities forever. This foundation reflects the Snows's close ties to the towns of Oakville and Milton and their lifelong commitment to community service. The designated fund will support the Oakville, Milton and Georgetown hospitals as well as the Lions Foundation, Dog Guides of Canada and two churches in the Milton area. Thanks to his generosity, James Snow's legacy will be a long-lasting one that will benefit many generations to come. 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 In response to various Letters to the Editor published in the Oakville Beaver, the Town of Oakville would like to take this opportunity to clarify its position as it relates to the former Bronte Butterfly Foundation (BBF) project at Bronte Waterfront Heritage Park. The BBF operates under a separate board, and is not an agency of the Town. The Town committed to providing funds to the original Butterfly and Skateway project subject to a number of conditions. These conditions were not met Town intends to honour Bronte Butterfly Park donations and therefore the Town withdrew its support and funding. When the BBF made the decision not to complete the park project, Council directed staff to proceed with a new park design that incorporated the donations of benches, pavers and trees made to the BBF. The Town received $50,000 from the BFF to honour the commitments made by its donors along with a detailed list of each individual donation including the inscription that each donor requested on the pavers, bench or base of the tree. Donors can be assured that the Town will honour their contributions to the BBF. The development of the Bronte Waterfront Heritage Park is now a Town-initiated project. It will be redesigned, constructed and maintained similar to other Town parks development projects. Design concepts and budget recommendations will be presented to the Community Services Committee as part of a staff report later this fall. BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com For detailed staff reports regarding the BFF visit www.oakville.ca. Initial design concepts as part of the Bronte Waterfront Heritage Park Master Plan are available at www.oakville.ca/bronteheritagepark.htm. Domenic Lunardo Commissioner, Community Services, Town of Oakville This week's poll The Oakville Beaver has a polling feature on its website oakvillebeaver.com. A new poll will be posted every Wednesday with the results of the poll published in the following Wednesday edition of The Oakville Beaver. This week's question is: What do you believe is the main issue in this federal election? · Childcare · Economy · Environment · Healthcare · Leadership · War in Afghanistan To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com Last week's poll: Should Green Party Leader Elizabeth May be included in the televised leaders' debates? · Yes 76.92% · No 23.08 % Total votes: 39 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