The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday October 15, 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 Time to mend fences The dust has finally settled. The sun has come up, bringing with it another fall day. The weary public keeps one eye on the price of gasoline, the other on their dwindling retirement savings. It's Oct. 15, the day after a federal election. As this is written yesterday afternoon, we do not know whom the winners are or which party is already planning a leadership convention. We have our own opinion -- but we shared that with you last week. What we do know, however, is that Canada will be far better off if its elected representatives moved forward and did their best to put the nastiness of this campaign far behind them. From pooping puffins to Stephane Dion's interview gaffes to controversial video postings of former NDP candidates, this election had just about everything. Obviously, not all of it good or necessary. Mending fences in the riding of Halton, will not be an easy job. Conservative Lisa Raitt and Liberal Garth Turner were openly bitter rivals and the ridiculous accusations that sprung up on websites for all to see was nothing short of embarrassing. It was not the Conservatives or the Liberals finest hour -- regardless of who posted what. Yes, Raitt was a candidate parachuted in by the Conservatives. But she certainly wasn't the first and won't be the last politician hand picked by a party. This decision, though, upset some local Conservatives, so much so that they could no longer support their own party. We think our readers would have been astonished, even dismayed, if they had read some of the libelous emails that were fired off to the editors at our Halton newspapers. Thankfully, the candidates in Oakville ran a much cleaner campaign that allowed the electorate to sort fact from fiction. Some of the allcandidates meeting were fiery and emotional, but did not contain the bitterness and divisiveness that permeated the Halton campaign. We hope the winners of last night's election are able to bring some harmony to the area they represent. 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 Dark day in Canadian history On Oct. 10, in Québec City, Henry Morgentaler received the prestigious Order of Canada, normally bestowed on those who have made a significant contribution to the well-being of Canadians. How does being personally responsible for the killing of more than 100,000 unborn children and indirectly responsible for the deaths of thousands more, contribute to the well-being of our country? At a time when the Canadian birth rate is already below replacement value and more than 3.5 million unborn Canadians have been killed by abortion since 1969, how could Canada's leading abortionist possibly be honoured for contributing to the betterment of our society? Rather, Morgentaler's legacy lies in the promotion of a Canadian culture that reveres convenience, comfort and personal autonomy over reverence for the dignity of all human beings from conception to natural death. The result being broken hearts, broken lives and broken families. This, indeed, is a dark day in Canada's history. JOANNE MATTERS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HALTON PRO-LIFE Thanks for the support As the chair of the OTMH Candlelight Ball Committee, I would like to thank the Oakville community for its overwhelming support of our annual fundraising gala being held on Nov. 1. We have, yet again, sold out. The generosity of local businesses, community leaders See Thanks page 7 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: Are you pleased with the outcome of the federal election? · Yes · No To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com Last week's poll: Which team will win its league championship first?: · Toronto Blue Jays 31.82% · Toronto Maple Leafs 4.55% · Toronto Raptors 22.73% · Toronto FC 22.73% · Toronto Argos 18.18% Total votes: 22 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 BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com