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OPINION & LETTERSTHE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR:The Oakville BeaverTHE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR:Canadian Circulation467 Speers Rd.,Audit Board Member Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 Recognized for Excellence by(905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571ClassiOntario CommunityCanadian Communityfied Advertising: 632-4440 Newspapers AssociationNewspapers AssociationCirculation: 845-9742 Open 9-5 weekdays,ATHENASuburban NewspapersAward5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekendsof AmericaEditorial and advertising content of theOakville Beaver is protected by copyright.NEIL OLIVERVice President and Group ROD JERREDManaging EditorMARK DILLSDirector of ProductionUnauthorized use is prohibited.Publisher of Metroland WestDANIEL BAIRDAdvertising DirectorMANUEL GARCIAProduction ManagerThe Oakville Beaver is a division ofDAVID HARVEYRegional General ManagerRIZIERO VERTOLLIPhotography DirectorCHARLENE HALLDirector of Distribution JILL DAVISEditor in ChiefSANDY PAREBusiness ManagerSARAH MCSWEENEYCirc. ManagerLetter to the editorPower shiftHalton CancerAnother federal election the fourth in seven years has come and gone and the people of Canada have spo-Society gratefulken and how.While Monday nights election of the first Conservative On behalf of everyone at themajority government in more than two decades may finally Canadian Cancer Society Halton Unit,bring some stability to Ottawa, remarkably that was only we would like to thank you for all of the second-biggest story of the evening.your outstanding support of our 2011In a historic shift of power, the New Democratic Party Daffodil Days campaign.swept into opposition in convincing fashion, taking 102 seats We deeply appreciate Halton Editorand leaving the Liberals including leader Michael Ignatieff in Chief Jill Davis participating as our battered, broken and an embarrassingly distant third.first official community member toIn the Oakville riding, Conservative incumbent Terence Yjoin the fight and wear a daffodil inoung led from start to finish grabbing close to 52 per cent of the vote and easily defeating Liberal candidate and support of our annual efforts. YourOakville Town Councillor Max Khan by more than 12,000 story of hope touched so many mem-votes.bers of our community in so manyThe Halton riding also remained Tory blue with incum-different ways.bent Lisa Raitt leading her opponents all night long, taking After the article ran in early March,nearly 55 per cent of the local vote and winning by more we received an incredible number of than 23,000 votes.telephone calls and e-mails from peo-Nationally, the Conservatives capture of 167 seats (155 ple looking to make cancer history inwere required for a majority) on Monday sends a clear mes-Halton.sage that Canadians were getting tired of going to the polls From local business that wanted toso frequently and were ready to give the Tories the majority mandate thecelebrate Daffodil Month at their work-y had been seeking.However, as Conservatives celebrate the majority victo-place, to people looking to volunteer ary, they must not forget that six out of every 10 voters chose few hours of their time as daffodilanother party on election day.seller or site coordinator to retail loca-Also, at 30.6 per cent, the NDP garnered just nine per tions that wanted to sell daffodil pinscent less of the popular vote than the Tories.or fresh flowers; the support from theVery clearly, a significant number of Canadians more community has been endless.than 4.5 million of them in fact want a party different The volunteers we had participat-than 'the usual suspects to run the country.ing in our campaign this year wereThe shockingly strong shift in opposition power from absolutely exceptional. We were luckythe Michael Ignatieff-led Liberals to the Jack Layton NDP The Oakville Beaverwelcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity,Letters to have such a dedicated and hard-begins a new era of government in Ottawa. So often a dis-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 working group of people from all agestant third, the NDP have secured power never before to the The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to enjoyed at the federal level.groups volunteer their time and ineditor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaverreserves the right to refuse to publish a letter.Clearly Laytons consistent message of the need for editorsome cases help with multiple shifts.change struck a chord with many voters most especially We are pleased to report thatin Quc where the NDP decimated the Bloc Qucois thanks to everyones support, the 2011and its leader Gilles Duceppe.Today is Support Staff Appreciation DayDaffodil Days campaign in Halton hasWhile Prime Minister Stephen Harper finally got his raised over $155,000 to date.In todays world we only have to pay the child and youth counsellors, psycho-wish for a chance to lead a majority government the We were absolutely overwhelmedattention to daily news headlines to educational consultants, speech-language overwhelming voter message from this election is that a at the support we received from thesignificant number of Canadians are starting to consider remember the wise saying that it takes a pathologists, social workers and all the Oakville, Burlington and Milton com-the prospect of giving someone other than the Liberals or village to raise a child.other team members for the contribu-munities this year. Conservatives a chance to lead.What we forget is that it also takes a tions they make to our students success The inroads made bWords cannot express our sincerey Layton and his party are unprece-team to educate a student. at the Halton District School Board.dented and are likely to keep the NDP leader firmly thanks for everyones efforts. Ensuring our children have all of the Taking time to thank those who make entrenched for many elections to come. To us the daffodil is a symbol of skills, resources and supports they need a difference to our students only takes a On the flip side, the colossal Liberal loss of opposition strength and courage, a symbol of life.to build a successful future, requires a moment, but can make the day special for status including Ignatieffs defeat in his home riding It says we will not give up. It says weteam effort in our publicly-funded someone who makes a world of difference means the Grits must return to the drawing board to will be fight back. It says we will beatschools.to your child. analyze what went wrong and what to do moving forward.cancer. On Wednesday, May 4, Support Staff Celebrate Support Staff Appreciation It should all make for some exciting days on Parliament Thank you Halton for joining theHAppreciation Day, we need to give special Day and celebrate the excellence in our ill.fight this April.thanks to all of the thousands of educa-publicly-funded education system.The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite Lisa Dale, Fundraising206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the tional support staff working throughout Tom Golightly, President, event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, Co-ordinator, Canadian Cancerour publicly-funded school system. Professional Student Services 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 Society, Halton UnitWe need to express our gratitude to Personnel, District 20, Halton OSSTFadvertisements or decline.www.insideHALTON.com OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, May 4, 2011 6