Oakville Beaver, 10 Nov 2010, p. 7

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W W W P A L M A P A S T A C O M 4 H E ) T A L I A N & O O D 3 H O P W W DundDunDu as s St t E Prin ce Mich ah el Dr Tra f r alg ar Rdr R Uppepp r MiMr ddle Rd RdRd E 4030 2501 Prince Michael Dr (at Dundas St.) (905) 257-9200 www.palmapasta.com Hours: Monday to Friday 9 am - 7 pm, Saturday 9 am - 6 pm , Sunday 10 am - 4 pm $12009 pieces Valid until November 21st, 2010 Not to be combined with any other offers. Family Size Cannelloni $210014 pieces Large Cannelloni Valid until November 21st, 2010 Not to be combined with any other offers. DELEO Garlic Bread Until Nov 21st, 2010 Until Nov 21 st , 2010 Until Nov 21st, 2010 W P A L M A P A S T A W un as Can Italian Peeled Tomatoes 9999 Olive Oil $399Bottle NOW OPEN IN OAKVILLE! 7 W ednesday , N ovem ber 10, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m I just believe that in order to prove a point that this is something the public wants, and not just me. Im just simply putting voice to the outrage and frustra- tion that I am hearing throughout the community. So in order to really drive that message home on the 15th, when I present this motion, I want to have as much of the public on side as possible. Knoll said hes received calls and e- mails from the public thanking him for his pursuit of the issue. He said the petition would be a form of proof that people agree with him on the issue. News of the donations came to light last week after the Ontario NDP brought to the public Ontario Elections contribution statements. Knolls motion asks the following ques- tions: Who approved the contributions? Was the board of directors aware of the donations? Were these items attributed in an Oakville Hydro, affiliate or subsidiary's budget and under what category of expense? Under what policy was this donation allowed to be made? Who attended the two events in ques- tion in 2008 and 2009 with the tickets acquired for each event by way of the dona- tions made? What was the rationale for making the donations/purchasing the tickets? Recommendations for further action and/or recovery of the funds from those who used the tickets to the events, if deemed necessary. The motion also said that to avoid per- ceived or actual conflict of interest, the members of the committee shall be appointed from among councillors who were not serving on the corporation's board of directors at the time of the dona- tions and that such members not partici- pate in the nomination or election of com- mittee members. Mayor Rob Burton and Ward 6 Councillor Max Khan are currently mem- bers of the Oakville Hydro board of direc- tors. In a recent statement, Burton said he discussed the two dinners with the former Oakville Hydro president, who then expensed them. (Burton) went to the president and said Id like to do this and the president said yeah, Knoll said. Id like to understand more of how that worked, how that can happen and we still have the outstanding issue of who actually went. Part of the argument is this was net- working so who were the networkers and what did they hope to accomplish. Theres a whole range of issues the public want to know about. Concerns were also raised over the fact that Knoll calls for three councillors to be part of the inquiry. Im perfectly happy to work something else out as long as whatever the inquiry format is, that its independent, he said. It cannot be Town-staffed. If the integrity commissioner, who I do not believe has the authority in jurisdictions outside of Town council, if he is a good viable option then Im perfectly happy. Those are minor aspects to my motion that Im perfectly happy to tweak. However, the most important thing for Knoll is that there is an independent inquiry and that it reveals some answers. He doesnt want to put off the inquiry until the next term of council, which begins in December, but wants it done now. He said the current council has a responsibility not to leave anything behind for the next term and that he fears the public will lose interest in the issue if it is kept off for too long. Knoll refuted the argument that Oakville Hydro attended the two dinners for networking purposes with cabinet ministers. Knoll said lobbying the Province should be done through sched- uled appointments with the ministers and those appointments should not have to be paid for. The notion that we need to pay to lobby the Province is really offensive to me, he said. We are the children of the Province by way of the legislation. The Province, whether it be stimulus money, or anything else that weve been able to get from the Province, that should come by virtue of presenting need and justify- ing that need, not who can write the biggest cheque. The petition has more than 100 signa- tures on it. Knoll said hes hoping to have a few hundred by Nov. 15, but added that this is not the only way to get the word out. He encourages people to e-mail their councillors and to attend the council meeting to showcase their concerns. Its sort of a package deal and the petition is just one tool out of the tool box to really prove a point that there real- ly is concern and angst in the communi- ty, Knoll said. Knoll hopes petition persuades Council to call inquiry Continued from page 1 Im just simply putting voice to the outrage and frustration that I am hearing throughout the community. Ward 5 Town and Regional Councillor Jeff Knoll

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