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4- The Oakville Beaver, Friday December 26, 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 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 Keep the spirit all year long Here at the Oakville Beaver, we have been overwhelmed by the acts of kindness and examples of generosity that have taken place over the lead up to the holiday season. We have seen businesses, community groups and individuals come to the aid of residents who are in need of the most basic necessities of life -- food, clothing and shelter. While all of this outpouring of humanity is emotionally uplifting, sadly it's rarely sustained throughout the entire year. Now that the holiday season of giving has come to an end, we worry that the homeless, hungry and the unemployed in Oakville and Halton may struggle until the next big drive to help our community's less fortunate arrives just before Easter. Complicating matters is the dramatic downturn in the economy that fell upon the global community toward the end of this year. The fallout from the domino effect that has occurred -- especially in manufacturing sectors -- has left many more people unemployed and hurting. And it's far from over. The uncertainty that remains within the North American domestic auto industry still looms like a storm cloud, threatening to rain down on thousands of additional jobs should the Big Three automakers not manage to survive these recessionary times. While the prospect of governments simply handing over billions of dollars without some guarantee the money will be returned to the public coffers is not attractive, neither is the prospect of plant closures and a much larger pool of unemployed workers. Just as Oakville and Halton residents have stepped up to do their part to help our society, our politicians in Ottawa must return to Parliament in the new year with a focus not on squashing political opponents, but rather helping Canada get on the road to recovery from this economic mess. There will be no easy solutions to all that ails our nation. Without co-operation and a non-partisan political approach by every party represented in Ottawa, there will be no solutions and our problems may only get worse. Our primary hope for 2009 is that our country's leaders can demonstrate an ability to resist the urge to trash their political foes and instead rise up and work together to make our country -- and our world -- a better place for all who live in it. 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 Members of the volunteer organization Canadians in Support of Afghan Women (CSAW) extend their deepest gratitude to you, the wonderful community, who made it possible to build a school in Afghanistan in just a few months. Yes, as you read this appreciation the last of the plastering is being done on the inside. We received word today that Community's efforts helped build school in Afghanistan the official opening will be on Jan. 10. In November, CSAW asked you to share a dream with them by attending our fundraiser and donating to the school building fund. You did, and because of your generosity 1,000 children will now go to a brick school. No longer will they huddle in tents trying to keep warm. One hundred of your donations went to this school that will also be used as a community centre. You have made a dream come true for desperately poor Afghan parents, who like us, want the best for their children. The dream will go on as we work to help pay the teacher's salaries and provide the paper, pencils etc. to run this school until they are able to do it themselves. Thank you for your generous gifts of money and time. Special mention to Sally Armstrong who shared her expertise with her new book on Afghan women, Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots, Power of One Committee from St. John's United Church, The Oakville Beaver and all of our volunteers. BEV LEFRANCOIS FOR CSAW Bus fare still a bargain I was appalled to read Johanna Boffa's letter, Bus fare increases appalling (Oakville Beaver, Dec. 17) about the increase to $3 in transit fares. Perhaps she should look at the cost of alternatives to see what a bargain $3 per ride is. Neither the previous fare nor the new one comes anywhere near the actual cost of providing the service. After deducting all the fares paid, the Town is still subsidizing the service by a huge amount. The subsidy is approximately $60 for each man, woman and child in Oakville whether they use the service or not. One of the reasons the subsidy is so high is that ridership(on some routes) is so low. Buses pass my home hourly with perhaps one or two riders, but most often they have no passengers. It can't be good for the environment or scarce resources or the property taxpayers to continue such waste. R. ADAMS 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.