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OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, March 18, 2009 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 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 SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager Small price to pay It's a good program and it could save more than one young life. That's why we are hoping there is a business or charitable organization that can come up with the remaining $10,000 Halton Regional Police needs to run a SMARTRISK program. The police want to demonstrate to 22,000 high school students in Oakville, Burlington and Milton the consequences of risky behaviour. The students are introduced to young people -- all of whom convey strong messages about what happens when an individual fails to take precautions or use common sense. "We're in the public safety business and we've been exposed to a program that we think has value," said Halton Police Supt. Signy Pittman. "This program works through positive messaging." However, SMARTRISK comes with a hefty price tag -- $55,000 to be exact. The police know the program reaches its target audience. It was introduced last year to students living in the Halton Hills community. One guest speaker, Sean, showed his young audience what happened after he tried to hop over a slow moving train. He lost an arm and a leg. Sean was chosen to speak to the students living in north Halton because there are more train tracks there than most communities. For Oakville, Milton and Burlington, some of the presenters will focus on the consequences of impaired driving. "That's not to suggest that we have a lot of youth who are driving while impaired," said Pittman. "Quite frankly, we are seeing a cross-section of our community demographic arrested for impaired driving. We're hopeful that SMARTRISK will be able to provide us with a life hero (presenter) who is a survivor of some tragedy related to drug or alcohol abuse." A Rotary club, Hydro-One and Halton Regional Safety Council are among the supporters that have already chipped into the program. If the police raise the $10,000, the plan is for SMARTRISK to host multiple presentations from April 27 to May 15. We think $10,000 is a very small price to pay if it saves one young life. We are confident there is someone out there willing to lend Halton police a hand in this worthwhile endeavour. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 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. Congratulations on pay raise Re: Regional councillors to get 5.5% pay raise, Oakville Beaver, March 6 I would like to congratulate the Halton Region councillors. They have looked adversity, in the form of the worst recession in 60 years, right in the face and gave themselves a 5.5% raise. Way to go. We elected you to ignore your constituents, particularly the hundreds or even thousands who have lost their jobs, and ensure that your future earning power is kept intact. I know that you will help the economic recovery by spending that extra cash and your increased expense allowance on North American built cars and new homes. I am certain that there are many good reasons for the raise, studies paid for by the taxpayer, the fact that some council somewhere else gets more, the many hardships you face going to meetings, that justify this raise. Rest assured that I will take all of those factors into account when it is time to consider who I vote for in the next election. Once again, way to go. JACK HUGHES Trustee's motion out of order As a resident and parent in Ward 4, I am profoundly disappointed that our Halton District School Board trustee Kathryn Bateman-Olmstead has chosen to completely disregard the opinions of a majority the families in Ward 4. Her motion to disregard the opinions of the Director of Education and the staff who have proposed a dual track French immersion delivery model means that all of the time and efforts put forward by the community have been a complete and utter waste of our time. We are in the midst of the deepest recession in memory, and resources are drying up. It is time that our representatives moved on to something other than expanding French immersion. If there is no money available to rectify school deficiencies, or to provide special education and EA support for needy children, there should certainly not be funds available to further expand an optional French immersion program. Spending $150,000 for a French coordinator; $500,000 for more portables at Forest Trail -- who knew we were so rich? GREG BOWMAN This week's poll This week's question is: Should the Halton Catholic and public school boards reconsider their decision to start classes before Labour Day? To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com Last week's poll: According to Maclean's magazine, Halton is the safest place to live in the GTA. Does this make you feel safer? · Yes 51.61% · No 48.39% Total votes: 31 votes 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.