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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, November 25, 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 Sending a message Sending bullies -- and their parents -- a clear message that there's no place for their behaviour in a respectful society is the right thing to do. Hooligans who seek to dominate and humiliate people who are different -- and often weaker -- than them must be stopped before the damage -- physical and psychological -- is done. The latest example of such cowardly behaviour reared its ugly head at Burlington Central School last Friday. On the penultimate day of National Bullying Awareness Week (Nov. 15-21), students from the Grades 7-12 school allegedly participated in Kick a Ginger Day, an exercise in intolerance and ignorance in which thugs target and physically assault people for having red hair. After some victims of the gutless prank -- believed to be loosely based on a November 2005 episode of an animated TV show -- reported the attacks to school officials, Halton police were called in to investigate. School officials apparently identified the offenders in the presence of their peers. At the end of the school day, Grades 7 and 8 classes were called together to be informed about the bullying that had taken place. The assembly reportedly concluded with names of students from both grades being read aloud with those students asked to stay behind. At least one parent of a "named" child described the school's punishment and method of delivering it as "overkill" and accused school officials of humiliating her daughter. Another mom insisted her daughter -- who claims to have only watched as others engaged in the alleged assault of fellow students -- was being wrongly accused. We believe both parents are missing the point. Rationalizing or denying this kind of behaviour and engaging in counter accusations only serves to reinforce the message that bullying is acceptable. It's impossible to expect accountability from our young people when their adult role models deflect responsibility. Any child (or adult) who believes it's alright to abuse a fellow student -- physically or verbally -- needs a lesson in humility. From reports of what transpired last Friday, that's precisely what school officials delivered. Parents who challenge the school board's authority to discipline unacceptable student behaviour are extending the cycle of bullying to another generation. Until we manage to eradicate the mindset that bullying is a rite of passage and a normal part of growing up, the next incident remains just one morally-bereft student (or parent) away. While school board officials are still concluding an internal investigation to determine if suspensions are warranted, Halton police have confirmed charges will not be laid. We applaud school officials and the police for acting quickly to make Central's Grades 7 and 8 students aware that aggressive acts of intolerance are unacceptable and will be taken seriously and dealt with swiftly. We support school boards disciplining bullies in an effort to prevent their actions from escalating to criminal activity in the future. 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 OPA letter raises more questions Re: Open Letter to Oakville Residents from the OPA, Oakville Beaver, Nov. 20. I read the comments from the OPA (Ontario Power Authority) in The Oakville Beaver and find it hard to believe that they value and respect the community of Oakville. If they did value and respect us, they would respond to our e-mails and answer our questions. They state that Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health says there is no evidence that a natural gas power plant will negatively impact the health of area residents -- but they do not qualify this -- is this because they have not done a study or gathered evidence? They talk about the Lakeview Generating Station being closed, but they do not address why this natural gas plant is not being situated there, where the infrastructure is already in place. They say that there are already gas-fired power plants operating safely in urban areas of Mississauga, Toronto and Brampton -- but how many of these are 900MW or greater? They say that the emissions (in general) will be substantially less than if a coal-powered plant produced them -- this is irrelevant, we would be equally as concerned if a coal plant was being put in -- this natural gas power plant will add to the emissions in our already stressed airshed. The open letter published in The Oakville Beaver was nothing more than the OPA trying to spin this awful situation to make themselves look better -- that is not respectful of the community. The OPA has not listened to the Town or its residents -- it obviously has its own agenda whose value has nothing to do with our community. BRENNAN HOWARD 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. HST will not raise retailers' costs Re: Retailers face extra costs with HST, Oakville Beaver, Nov. 20. I read with dismay the letter from Megan Richardson, property manager for the Upper Oakville Shopping Centre. In answer to the question she asked in the first line of her letter, yes, you are wrong. In fact you couldn't be more wrong. Retailers will actually face lower net costs with the HST. Currently, retailers pay GST and PST on various expenses, however they receive a refund for all of the GST that they pay. They do not however receive a refund of any PST paid. While they are usually PST exempt for any purchases of goods for resale, their advertising materials, office equipment leases and purchases, and many other expenses, are not PST exempt. These costs must be rolled into the price they charge for their goods. With the HST, the portion of tax that was formerly PST will now be refundable to them, and this will lower their costs, not increase them (hopefully they pass these lower costs onto their customers). As a result, none of the costs that Richardson listed, which are currently subject to GST, but not PST, will increase for the retailer. Richardson also commented that retailers won't be getting any additional revenue because they already charge PST and GST. She should, however, have already been aware that PST and GST collected is not revenue for the retailers, but is in fact collected on behalf of the governments that charge them. An increase or decrease in either of these rates will not result in an increase or decrease in revenue for the retailers. MIKE SMITH