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6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday October 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 Turner muzzles media Former Halton MP Garth Turner's comments -- posted on his blog -- on what it was like to be a Conservative. "I was a Progressive Conservative my entire life and believed Mr. Harper when he told me, straight out, he'd run a moderate, mainstream, middle-of-the-road administration. But never did I expect -- nor bow to -- a demand that MPs be stripped of free speech, prevented from standing in caucus without permission, denied the ability to lobby for constituents, to raise any issue not party policy or simply put principle ahead of a leader's vanity." Former Halton MP Garth Turner's own comments about being a Liberal -- posted on his blog Wednesday, the day after his defeat. "Being Canada's only blogging MP (my political site played a key role in having my butt kicked out of the Conservative party) was bad enough. But being with a political party, which seemed to offer people no better safe harbour, in this storm was likely the kiss of death. I'd urged my leader to adopt an immediate policy of guaranteeing all private bank savings, but that commitment was blown." It was clear to Halton voters that Garth Turner would never be happy representing any one party in Canada -- unless of course he was the leader. Perhaps his intense dislike for Stephen Harper stems from the fact that the PM's controlling nature mirrors much of Turner's own personality. The former MP could be entertaining, eloquent and loved nothing better than to engage an audience. As a former journalist, Turner repeatedly said he is a proponent of free speech. His highly-charged, daily blog is a testament to that. So it came as a surprise to this newspaper that Turner -- the man who often railed against the PM for muzzling the media -- decided to order the removal of both our reporter and photographer from his campaign office Tuesday night. He did so without explanation. Yes, the Beaver and its sister newspapers the Burlington Post and Milton Canadian Champion, supported Conservative Lisa Raitt in an editorial. But to prevent the Halton media from doing its job by covering his campaign on election night speaks volumes about this man's principles. Turner lost the election, but not because of the newspaper's editorial. It was the insightful voters who could see straight through his painful rhetoric. From Tory to Independent to Liberal, we wonder if the NDP or Greens will be ready to embrace Turner into their fold? 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 This letter is in response to Ryan Bolton's article Homeless in Halton (Oakville Beaver, Sept. 24, 2008). As a resident in Halton, I am alarmed at the statistics outlined in Bolton's article: 1) There have been more than 1,000 requests for homelessness assistance made since January of this year. 2) The number of homeless families is on the rise. 3) There are many families on the brink of homelessness not to mention families that have not informed the region and are Homeless statistics should concern all of us living in what is called a `hidden homeless' state. This is an escalating situation that needs action. We are living in an affluent area and many residents are unaware of the lack of affordable housing's impact on less fortunate families in our community. I urge readers to contact their local MP and demand steps be taken to eradicate homelessness in our neighbourhoods. Steps include more attention and resources to Halton initiatives such as supplying affordable housing and low rent units and in the shorter term, more emergency homes. Halton region allocated $3.02 million to homeless and eviction prevention initiatives. I ask readers to call upon the government to reallocate responsibility for affordable housing strategies back to the provincial and federal levels who are better able to fund initiatives due to more monetary resources. Homelessness needs to be eradicated now, before this national disaster escalates even more. MONIKA HELLSTEN Reader overlooked key issues in the provincial referendum question Re: Vote was Democratic, The Oakville Beaver, Oct 1. Wilf Rudd stated "...Ontario voters said a resounding `No' to proportional representation." I believe he overlooked a couple of key issues in the provincial referendum. The option offered on the ballot was a method of balancing province wide voting results with party representation in Parliament, by having the political parties appoint additional members. Rightly or wrongly, some voters saw this as a means to pay off party hacks, and those who could not make it in the ridings. Those members would be responsible to no one for their actions. A second problem was that the issue received virtually no public discussion. In order to judge the public's attitude, the correct question should have been, "Do you support Proportional Representation, in principle?" A strong `Yes' vote would have been the signal to investigate options and, at a later date, present the options to a second referendum. JERRY REID 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