The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, January 22, 2010 · 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 Contrasting styles We're not surprised Oakville MP Terence Young limited discussion at his pre-budget consultation meeting Wednesday night to the upcoming budget. Whenever someone tried to ask a question about another topic on their mind, such as the prorogation of parliament, they were cut off and asked to make an appointment with the Oakville MP. Admittedly, this tight-fisted control of the meeting was disappointing, but not surprising. Young's Oakville constituents would have been better served if he had attended one of Halton MP Lisa Raitt's recent public consultations and taken some notes. While Raitt has been the brunt of criticism, which ultimately led to her move from the high profile Natural Resources cabinet post to the lower profile Labour portfolio, she has always seemed willing to face the public, even an agitated public. On Jan. 9, the Halton MP held not one public consultation meeting, but three meetings in Oakville, Milton and Burlington. By all reports, she let her constituents speak their minds, took notes and while she may not have agreed with their points, she promised to make them known to her government. This is the way public consultation meetings should be conducted. Constituents should be able to speak their minds about issues that concern them and not just be limited to what their MP wants to discuss. We guess it comes down to whether an MP sees themselves as ruling or serving their constituents. While residents who were upset by the recent prorogation of parliament didn't get a chance to speak their mind at Young's meeting, they will have a chance Saturday to show the Oakville MP how they feel at a public demonstration, Rally for Democracy, being held at 1 p.m. on Kerr Street's Heritage Park. The location is right across the street from Young's constituency office. Feel free to speak up. Maybe someone is listening. 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 Fine particulate standards exist Re: Bylaw a breath of fresh air. Oakville Beaver, Jan. 6. Joe Evers sings the praises of Town staff in demonstrating a balanced approach to Fine Particulate Matter (FPM). The praise appears to accept that Oakville, quite rightly with all the attendant cost in so doing, will be the catalyst and bring to the fore legislation to curb FPM while upper levels of government continue to be asleep at the switch. A classic false premise aided, of course, by the fine words of our mayor, "After an intense period of research and expert consultation, the Town of Oakville believes there is no effective provincial regulation to address these serious health pollutants, despite the health risks they pose." In so far as FPM, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (all Canadian Provinces and Territories together) developed a Canada Wide Standard (CWS) for PM2.5 in 2000 that set targets (30 micrograms per cubic metre based on the 98th percentile ambient measurement annually averaged over three consecutive years), along with reporting requirements (2006) to be met by 2011. For more detail, check Ontario Provincial Government on the web and search Fine Particulate Matter. In March 1999, the Ontario government issued a comprehensive report, Strategic Options to Address the Fine Particulate Issue in Ontario, but this is only the thin end of the wedge on FPM work done by public health institutions worldwide before and after this date. When the Town of Oakville enters this arena, with fine (worrisome) words and mention of expert consultation, I guard my wallet and wait for the eventual rise in property taxes. Let's get real! IVOR DAVIES 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. Let's bring back ice skating on the creek Many years ago, when I first moved to Oakville, the Town used to flood 16 Mile Creek downtown above the Lakeshore Bridge (weather permitting). I have a picture from The Oakville Beaver on New Year's Day, taken years ago from the bridge, of the children and adults enjoying a wonderful happy afternoon skating downtown on the river. Now that my grandchildren are of an age to begin skating, I recently inquired at the parks department about resurrecting this Town-supported activity. I was advised that because some years ago a machine went through the ice this was no longer done. I think that with the right combination of support from the Town, the downtown Business Improvement Area and, perhaps, Oakville Minor Hockey, we could put together a mix of volunteers and paid part-time help to monitor the ice thickness and, when feasible, drill a few holes and install a sump pump to flood some areas. AL HANSON Pud BY STEVE NEASE neasecartoons@gmail.com