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OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, August 21, 2009 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 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 Regional 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 Don't be a target The fact that two significant health studies have found a correlation between the depiction of smoking in movies and the likelihood young viewers of these films will take up the habit concerns us -- but not to the point of supporting censorship. Halton's Regional Health Department finds the conclusions of the studies compelling enough to join forces with other Ontario health units to launch the social marketing campaign Don't Be a Target! The point of the campaign is to educate people about the strong influence images of actors smoking can have on impressionable youths. "When youths see their favourite celebrity smoking on the big screen, they are 16 times more likely to have positive attitudes about smoking in the future," said Halton's Medical Officer of Health Dr. Bob Nosal. Separate studies -- one by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the other by the World Health Organization (WHO) -- have concluded that there is a strong relationship between films that depict smoking and young people taking up the unhealthy habit. "Smoking in movies misleads youths into thinking that tobacco use is normal, acceptable, socially beneficial and more common than it really is," concludes the WHO report Smoke-Free Movies: From Evidence to Action. The same report recommends, "that all future movies with scenes of smoking be given an adult rating, with the possible exception of movies that reflect the dangers of tobacco use or that depict smoking by a historical figure who smoked." We don't agree with such censorship and believe the proposed rating system is impractical. Will films depicting drinking to excess or engaging in other forms of high-risk behaviour such as speeding be next on the restricted list? Health organizations -- including Halton's Regional Health Department -- do not and should not have censorship control of the film industry. Having said that, we do support the concept of educating young people about the fact that they are being targeted as future consumers of products that can be harmful -- even deadly -- to their health. We applaud the Don't Be A Target! campaign, which aims to make young people and adults more aware of the relationship between smoking in movies and an increase in young smokers. We believe parents should be playing a starring role in reinforcing the anti-smoking message the health department wants to deliver to Halton's youths. Helping young people become discerning moviegoers -- able to distinguish between reality and Hollywood fantasy -- is a good first step. 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. Letter to the editor Mayor backs Flynn's position The Oakville Conservatives (Conservatives demand Flynn speak up, Oakville Beaver, Aug. 12, 2009) know that if the Progressive Conservative party was still in power, a gas-fired power plant would have been operating in the Clarkson/Oakville Air shed for the past several years. It was the PC government of 1995-2003 that approved the Sithe Southdown 850 MW plant and granted the environmental certificate of approval in 2001. But the election of MPP Kevin Flynn (Lib ­ Oakville) and the Liberal government in 2003 cancelled the Tories' ill-conceived deregulation of the electricity market and put an end to Sithe's original plans to be operating by 2003. Now our community is again facing the prospect of a power plant in the Clarkson/Oakville Air Shed. While Oakville's Council has enacted a ban to prevent power plants from being built in Oakville, Mississauga's Council determined after a careful study that an ideal spot for a power plant would be right in the Clarkson area on Oakville's borders. A 630 MW gas-fired power plant is now being built in the Halton riding north of Oakville without one word having been raised against it by MPP Ted Chudleigh (PC ­ Halton). Council and I have been working together since last year to fight the proposed power plant in Oakville and I have urged Mr. Flynn to remain in his position at the Ministry of the Environment so that he can continue to represent Oakville from within the government and support our larger campaign for reform of MOE's clean air regulations. I am glad he agreed to be a team player and work with us. Recently, the local provincial Conservative riding association has become aware of our fight against the power plant, and made efforts to 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. Police officers deserve pay raise Re: Cops raise too high, Oakville Beaver, Aug. 14 I am amazed that you would criticize better pay for our police officers. In a society that glorifies sport figures, and worships them with multi-million dollar contracts, how can we be so quick to get out the knives when it comes to the salaries of the men and women who protect us from crime and violence? I am not a member of, nor related to anyone from, the police services, but I have a great deal of respect and gratitude for them. Every day they do a dangerous job, routinely dealing with people who would do them (and us) harm. Let's put this in perspective; police offi See Police page 7 Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com See Mayor page 7