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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, November 13, 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 --Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends 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 Standing up against bullies It has been more than a decade since the community of Littleton, Colorado was terrorized by two heavilyarmed, trench coat-clad students. Intent on inflicting maximum carnage against a world they both professed to hate, the pair of Columbine High School seniors killed 12 of their peers and one teacher before taking their own lives in a massacre they had been plotting for months. Eight days later, in Taber, Alberta, a 14-year-old youth opened fire inside W.R. Myers High School, killing 17-year-old Jason Lang while wounding another 17-year-old student. Shortly after the Canadian shootings, we learned that the accused had been unpopular and a victim of such incessant bullying that he had dropped out of school. Following the Taber tragedy, Canadian teacher/parent Bill Belsey decided he needed to do something to address the societal problem and the psychological and physical pain it causes. He registered the domain name www.bullying.org and began to build an educational website devoted to supporting bullying victims by letting them know they are not alone and they are not to blame for being bullied. Most recently, Belsey came up with the idea of launching a national Bullying Awareness Week (www.bullyingawarenessweek.org), an effort to spread the message that bullying is no longer "a normal part of growing up." Next week (Nov. 15-21), the Halton Catholic District School Board plans to recognize the seventh annual National Bullying Awareness Week by making a resource toolkit available to assist schools in promoting and raising awareness about bullying prevention. It's that silent majority -- those who Belsey believes have to "be the change" -- that he hopes to reach next week. Locally, 14-year-old Appleby College student James Valitchka, the founder of Stand Tall and Speak Out, organized two days of anti-bullying concerts to inspire Oakville students last week. We believe they are both on the right track. Only by challenging whole communities to take responsibility for spreading the word that bullying is no longer socially-acceptable behaviour -- the same way Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other similar groups have reshaped our perception of drunk drivers -- can we expect to see any positive change. 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 Debate needed on new hospital Re: Hospital May Swap Land for $200M tax support, Oakville Beaver, Nov. 4 Mayor Rob Burton stated the $200million price tag is reasonable for a new, state-of-the-art hospital facility that Halton Healthcare Services will exchange for the land that currently the old hospital and the old high school sit on. This $200 million will be raised through a special tax to be voted on by Town Council on Dec. 14. The more I read about the new hospital, the more concerned I am about the real costs of our new hospital to the taxpayers of our community. Regardless of the 82 per cent support that Oakville residents showed in a March 2009 Community Attitude Survey, that said Oakville needed to relocate, expand and municipally fund the new hospital, most Oakville residents would be shocked at the true price tag to the taxpayer and be quite disappointed that they were duped by the provincial government's Alternative Financing and Procurement Model (AFP) and Halton Healthcare Services (HHS). John Oliver, president and CEO of HHS, assures Oakville residents that this will be a public hospital despite private sector investment. There is no doubt it will be a public hospital, but unlike the present OTMH, the new hospital will leave Oakville residents with a bitter taste after incurring costs, especially if a stay is required in a private hospital room. Oliver goes on to say that the private sector is fiscally responsible for building the new hospital on a previously agreed price, unless HHS requests changes after construction for specs or equipment, and then we would have to pay a premium price for the changes. Chances are this is going to happen with ongoing new technology. On the issue of private beds, Oliver stated that patients who have insurance plans that do not cover private beds, but have semi-private coverage will be moved to a private bed at no cost if all semi-private beds are full. 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 email to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Councillor says council acted unfairly Thank you for the article Knoll frustrated by exclusion from committee, Oakville Beaver, Nov. 5 and well-considered editorial Council needs to respect the Rzone, Oakville Beaver, Nov. 6 regarding the exclusion of my Ward 5 colleague, Councillor Jeff Knoll, from any committee appointments for a third year in a row. I'm pleased to see that a symptom of the issues facing certain councillors is now being made public. Personally, I apologize to Jeff and Ward 3 Councillor Mary Chapin for not speaking on their behalf last Monday evening. I was blindsided by Ward 1 Councillor Ralph Robinson's motion as it didn't follow what I knew as normal procedure, and found myself examining the names he placed into empty or unclaimed positions and tried to see if I had missed an e-mail where they put themselves forward or some new rule to allow for longer See Community page 7 Pud BY STEVE NEASE neasecartoons@gmail.com See New page 9