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w w w .i n si d eH A LT O N .c o m O A K V IL LE B EA V ER W ed ne sd ay , S ep te m be r 7, 2 01 1 6 467 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 The Oakville Beaver Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver is a division of 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 editor 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. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENA Award THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Canadian Circulation Audit Board Member Canadian Community Newspapers Association Ontario Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America I take issue with the Oakville Beaver Sept. 2 article dEnd of uploading coul cost region $15.9M a year. If after reviewing the provinces financ- es, a Tim Hudak government determines that the remaining $500 million in uploading should be rescheduled or can- celled, taxpayers in Halton will still be way further ahead with a PC government managing our finances. Dalton McGuintys broken arbitration system has cost municipalities hundreds of million of dollars for excessive wage settlements that hamstring local leaders and burden families with rising property tax bills. For nearly eight years, Dalton McGuinty has handed out unsustainable collective agreements, which set the benchmark for arbitrations with munici- pal public sector workers. Ontario fami- lies pay the price as arbitrators ignore a so-called wage freeze. In changebook, the Ontario PCs lay out a plan to invest $35 billion in new infrastructure and to give cities and towns the power to decide what happens within their boundaries. We will end the provincial micromanaging and delays in Official Plans that have cost time, jobs and money. fAt the Association of Municipalities o Ontarios annual meeting, Tim Hudak reaffirmed his commitment to fixing Dalton McGuintys broken arbitration system. Paying public servants what is fair makes sense but not if it means making Ontario families pay more than what they can afford. Its tunnel vision (pun intended) to assume that a change in the current uploading program will cost Oakville taxpayers a cent. On Oct. 6, Ontario fami- lies will face a clear choice between more of Dalton McGuinty downloading the cost of his broken arbitration system onto municipalities, or an Ontario PC govern- ment that will provide families with real relief. Larry Scott, Oakville Riding Ontario PC Candidate The first public meeting for the Town of Oakville Transportation Master Plan Review will be held at Oakville Town Hall on Sept. 14 at 6:30 p.m. Please attend this meeting and tell our Town Council and Mayor Rob Burton to change this plan as it is the first step to the destruction of our Natural Heritage System. This transportation plan reveals the mas- sive infrastructure maze of new roads, bridges, sewers, and huge expressway (before 2031) that will be imposed upon Oakville's Natural Heritage System. Large parts of the NHS including core areas of forest and wet lands are being given over to become road allowance. Where roads are placed, nature dies and develop- ment follows. Clear cutting more roads and bridges through Lions Valley Park, the majestic forests of the valley lands of the North l6 Mile Creek and the Glenorchy Conservation Area must be stopped. The Natural Heritage System, including The Glenorchy Conservation Area, was promised to the people of Oakville as a ref- uge for nature and to save the habitat of the fragile biodiversity of Oakville's remaining nature lands. Only about 30 per cent of the traffic on these new roads will originate in f Oakville. The rest is being built with lots o your tax dollars for cross GTA/Regional traf- fic diversion, directly through our nature land reserve. Please write to Regional Chair Gary Carr gary.carr@halton.ca, Mayor Burton mayor@ oakville.ca, your councillors and Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn KFlynn.mpp.co@liberal. ola.org and tell them we need our promised Natural Heritage System threatened Tory candidate responds to uploading story Theyre back! In case you havent noticed, our roads are experiencing more traffic now that summer vacation is officially over and thousands of Halton students are back to school. Motorists who were growing accustomed to the lack of school buses and crossing guards need a quick refresher about safety rules around our schools. And remember, many of the students, especially the younger ones, may be excited about returning to school and won't be pay- ing as much attention as they should to oncoming traffic. As a cautionary measure, the Halton Regional Police Service provides the follow- ing school bus safety tips on its website. For Motorists: Drive with extra care whenever you see a school bus in front of you or coming toward you Remember that if a school bus flashes its red lights, traffic in both directions must stop at least 20 metres from the bus, with the exception of when oncoming lanes are divided by a median strip. Travel may not resume until the school bus resumes motion and/or the lights have stopped flashing. First offenders of laws related to school buses face fines of up to $2,000 and six demerit points under the Highway Traffic Act. For Parents: Remind children to be extra careful when boarding or disembarking from school buses Make sure they remember to take a sec- ond look for traffic before crossing the road Remind children to follow the school bus safety rules taught at school Encourage children to help their school bus driver keep their attention on road safety by being good passengers. Safety first See Oppose page 12