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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER W e dn es da y, Se pt em be r 1 5, 2 01 0 6 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends The Oakville Beaver Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. OPINION & LETTERS 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@oakville- beaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The 2010 municipal election is now underway. Over the next 40 days candidates vying for a spot on either Town council, regional council or the public or Catholic school boards will be doing their best to convince you the voter they are best person for the job. The job involves spending your money and putting policies in place that will make your community or school run more efficiently and effectively. The job requires the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon and the peo- ple skills of Santa Claus. The job, at least it should, entails endless hours of reading reports, listening to the concerns of con- stituents, debating issues with fellow board/council mem- bers, dissecting infor- mation and making hard decisions that will not, undoubtedly, please everyone. However, determin- ing who gets the job is up to you. In the last municipal election in Oakville in 2006, 112,458 people were eligible to cast a ballot. When the last ballots were counted only 39,719 had done so a voter turnout of 35 per cent. That means two out of every three people couldnt be bothered to spend the few minutes it takes to vote. Those choosing not to vote were obviously not interest- ed in local programs for their children, better roads, ade- quately funded public services, proper taxation, growth, industrial development, properly maintained facilities, new home construction...the list is endless. It is the candidates vying for the job who determine the future of our communities and school boards. By registering to run they have made the effort to make our communities a better place. However, only by voting can you match their commit- ment. As always, we encourage everyone to learn what they can about the candidates to make an informed decision this election. After all, we all benefit if the right person gets the job. NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West 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 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 editorConsidering the job and the best fit for it THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENAAward THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIALMEDIASPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Canadian CirculationAudit Board Member Canadian CommunityNewspapers AssociationOntario CommunityNewspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America I am writing to express my support for the TransCanada power plant proposed to be built on the Ford site. I can understand the appre- hension of people who live near industrial areas when a project arises they think will lower property values. What fills me with disdain, however, is the cynicism of local politicians who have jumped on the NIMBY bandwagon in preparation for the municipal election. Where was all this concern when the plans were made? It seems to me the mayor and council failed to prevent the power plant and are now trying to convince us they still can, despite the fact the project has been approved by the appropriate regulatory authorities. The mayor has been quoted as saying he wants to ensure all possible controls are in place to protect the air shed, despite the fact that the plant will only operate 15 to 40 per cent of the time and there is no evidence it will worsen pollution in the area. The people of Ontario already have a Ministry of the Environment whose job it is to ensure the plant operates within permitted standards. The Town should be glad of the construction and new jobs the new plant will bring to Oakville, to say nothing of the approximately $1 million in taxes each year it will bring. Instead, the mayor gleefully introduces his Land Use Policy Study for Power Generation and Cogeneration Facilities, an 18-month waste of time and money, which duplicates provincial work we have already paid for with our provincial taxes. According to an Oakville Beaver story on Sept. 9, the Town has spent 18 months work- ing on regulations to be applied to any power generation stations in town. These regulations seem mostly designed to make it more difficult to locate power generation facilities, despite the fact that there is overwhelming demand for more electricity. The Beaver story suggested Town staff are becoming subject matter experts on local power generation, which is actually a provincial responsibility. As local taxpayers, we are paying a heavy price to create policy in an area over which the Town has no jurisdiction. All this to dress up NIMBY as a genuine con- cern for the environment. Not impressed. NICOLAS W.R. BURBIDGE, OAKVILLE Not impressed by NIMBY politicians The Oakville Beaver is a division of Re: Town's Power Policies up for Public Input, Thursday, Sept. 9, Oakville Beaver. In this article, Chris Breen of TransCanada is quoted as saying: This energy will be crucial as the region grows by over 40 per cent within 10 years. It appears that Mr. Breen should head back to school along with the stu- dents this fall and brush up on his math. The proposed plant is 950 MW, which TransCanada claims is enough to power more than 900,000 homes. On this basis, a 40 per cent increase to Oakvilles approximately 50,000 homes could be met with a 20 MW plant. Mr. Breen should also not forget the capacity provided by the new power plant in Halton Hills that provides an additional 680 MW to the region. A reasonable solution may be to consider smaller power plants, along with conservation and the use of solar power. The Towns proposed amendments appear to contain more flexibility towards siting smaller power genera- tion facilities (less than 25 MW). PAULINE WATSON, OAKVILLE Was coverage endorsement? Smaller is better The Oakville Beaver had, as its lead article, on Friday, Sept. 10, Ann Mulvale's bid for the position of mayor. This article, which ran over sev- eral pages, was an implicit endorse- ment of Mulvale's bid by metroland- media (the publisher of the Oakville Beaver). If metrolandmedia wants to pro- mote democracy and transparency, I suggest that an equal number of columns of print be given to any other mayoral candidates. On the other hand, the publisher could openly declare its support for Mulvale. HART JANSSON, OAKVILLE Those choosing not to vote were obviously not interested in local programs for their children, better roads, adequately funded public services, proper taxation, growth, industrial development, properly maintained facilities, new home construction ... the list is endless.