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

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, D ec em be r 1 , 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. Halton police are focusing their attention on motorists for two very different reasons this month. First, they report that impaired driving charges are being laid at a rate of close to one a day in the region this year. Since Jan. 1, 295 drivers on Halton roads have been arrested for impaired driving. Locally, the num- bers are nothing to brag about even though Halton Hills had the fewest charges laid with 36 (Burlington leads with a total of 123, Oakville is next with 87, fol- lowed by Milton with 49). Worse yet is that alcohol played a contributing role in four of this years 13 traffic fatalities in the region. Before you drink and drive, police want you to consider the penalties if caught. A first offence sees the drivers licence suspended for a year and a fine of at least $1,000. Following the suspension, the driver is on the hook for the cost to install a mandatory interlock ignition device on their car. Second offenders face licence suspensions of three years and a minimum of 30 days in jail. These drivers are also required to attend a Back on Track course for 11 months. When their licence is reinstated, an inter- lock ignition device must be re-installed at their expense. Subsequent offences will result in a jail term of not less than 120 days. Even if you only have a few drinks, you are still taking a chance. The penalties for being caught driv- ing after having a few drinks are also stiffer this year thanks to Bill 126, which comes into effect today (Wednesday). Under Bill 126 police may impound a vehicle for seven days if: A driver is caught with a blood alcohol concen- tration of more than 0.08 or refuses to comply with a demand to provide a breath sample made by a police officer under the Criminal Code of Canada. A driver who is required to have a vehicle igni- tion interlock device is caught driving without one. A driver is caught driving while their licence is suspended for things like careless driving, failing to pay family support, demerit point accumulations or blowing between 0.05 and 0.08 on a Breathalyzer test. Did we mention the annual RIDE campaign kicked off this week? Youve been warned. NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief 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 occu- pied 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 editorFair warning 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 Remembering the Montreal Massacre victims The Oakville Beaver is a division of People-friendly trails are rare Re: Leash free parks are for dogs not kids, Oakville Beaver, Nov. 3 The writer is correct in arguing for the safety of small children say- ing that parents should consider leaving their children at home or taking them to some park which is not designated leash free. As a relative newcomer to Oakville, I have yet to find a park in Oakville, including Bronte Creek Provincial Park, which is not assumed to be leash-free and where my family is safe from roaming dogs. I am shocked that the rights of dogs seem to exceed those of peo- ple, especially little ones, at the town parks, trails and playgrounds, and even on the streets. I find it unnerving to walk the town trails because I am invariably approached by one or more dogs, from huge to tiny, running free ahead of their owners and often completely out of their sight. When 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 SARAH MCSWEENEY Circulation Manager DANIEL COLEMAN Regional Online Sales Manager December 6, 1989: in 22 minutes, 27 people were injured and 14 women were killed at Montreals ole Polytechnique by a gunman before he turned the trigger on himself. The gunman had studied for admission to the school, but was not accepted a decision he blamed on affirmative action policies. In a suicide note he left on his body, he described his rage against women and identified their pursuit of social equality as the event that singularly ruined his life. He included a list of prominent women in non-traditional occupations the provinces first women firefighter and police captain, for example and beneath this, the gunman wrote: [These women] nearly died today. Before Dec. 6, 1989 many Canadians might have understood incidences of vio- lence against women as individual acts of meanness, a symptom of stress, poor anger management, or as an unexplain- able accident. But the Polytechnique rampage was a strategic attack of hatred and fear. The gunmans actions echo acts of domestic murder and abuse committed against women even today. Three quarters of Canadian women assaulted or threatened by their intimate partner also describe their partners as controlling in one or more ways. And half of all Canadian women have survived at least one incident of sexual or physical violence. The Sexual Assault & Violence Intervention Services of Halton (SAVIS) provides free, confidential and non-judg- mental 24-hour support to all survivors of sexual violence. We advocate against vio- lence in the community at large and pro- mote through community education. This Dec. 6, we remember all women and girls in Canada who have experienced violence. Between April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010, SAVIS responded to 4,650 client contacts, including 461 callers to the 24- hour crisis line and 178 walk-in clients for immediate supports. SAVIS believes that personal, social and political change will better the lives of all women, men and children. We believe that education and information goes a long way toward the prevention of vio- lence. Remember Dec. 6. Remember: Genevi Bergeron, Hne Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Lagani, Maryse Leclair,, Anne Marie Lemay, Sonja Pelletier, Mich Richard, Annie St-Arnault, Annie Turcotte, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz. NICOLE PIETSCH & INGRID ZOLLIKOFER, SEXUAL ASSAULT & VIOLENCE INTERVENTION SERVICES OF HALTON See By-law page 11