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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, December 7, 2011 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 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 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: C Canadian Circulation Audit Board Member A THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association S Suburban Newspapers of America o Canadian Community Newspapers Association ATHENA Award NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor 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 Info is needed Good decisions require good information. That conclusion was reached repeatedly by Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter in a sometimes damning 2011 Annual Report, released Monday. McCarter noted a disturbing trend of provincial ministries suffering from a lack of "meaningful and reliable information." Highlights of McCarter's findings include: · Since 2002, consumers have paid a debt retirement charge on electricity bills that was intended to pay off $7.8 billion in Ontario Hydro's "residual stranded debt." Consumers have paid $8 billion, but the finance minister has never publicly updated how much debt remains -- though the Electricity Act requires it "from time to time." This year, it was estimated the debt retirement charge may continue until 2018. We believe this demands a more transparent explanation from Ontario's government. · Ontarians pay significantly more for auto insurance than other Canadians, due to high-accident claim costs. Yet, the commission overseeing the auto insurance sector does not know if insurers are handling claims judiciously and paying out the proper amounts, and needs better information on the impact of auto insurance fraud on claim costs. Clearly there is no incentive for government to get tougher on insurance fraud while its impact remains unknown. And we continue to pay for the cost of fraudulent insurance claims? · On a per-capita basis, Ontario spends more on legal aid than other provinces, but provides the fewest number of f low-income residents with dedicated legal representation. So, more people have to rely on Legal Aid Ontario's website and courtroom duty counsel. Legal Aid Ontario does not have the information to assess the impact of this on the legal needs of low-income people. Can there be justice in a legal system that does not provide for those who can't afford legal representation? Where is all the legal aid money in Ontario being spent? · The Ontario Trillium Foundation provides more than $100 million a year in grants to not-for-profit and charitable groups through a well-defined review and approval process, yet supporting documentation often can not demonstrate the most worthy projects are funded for reasonable amounts or if the funds are spent as intended. Yet another example of millions spent without any evidence it's been spent wisely. · Five years ago, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities stopped collecting graduation rates and postgraduation employment success data from Ontario's 470 private career colleges. This could steer students toward successful programs. To view the entire Auditor General's 2011 Annual Report, visit www.auditor.on.ca. 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 The power of silence Children around the world are having the biggest injustice draped over them. Through poverty and abuse, they are losing their rights, their voice. Take away their food, take away their family and loved ones. Take away their rights? Take away their voice? That's going too far. What will our world become if our next generations know only of hate and injustice rather than love and sympathy? Sunningdale Public School and our community joined forces and stood up for what's right. On Nov. 30, more than 170 students from Sunningdale Public School stayed quiet for 24 hours to show the difficulty of losing their voice. Through this campaign, the students and staff got a fresh taste of the severity of this issue, by either listening to deafening silence, or by being silent themselves. For one hour, the whole school, all of f its students, participated in this amazing campaign, and you would not believe how quiet -- no, it was more than quiet -- how eerily mute the whole school was. It was very powerful and it really makes you wonder if silence is louder than any bullhorn, as we are not speaking over others, we are speaking with them. Although this was a very difficult task to accomplish, we, as Oakville, have come together and made a great difference. Perhaps if we are silent, we might actually hear what is really important; what truly matters. Mila, Couby and Jiyu, Grade 8 students, Sunningdale Public School, Oakville Editor's Note: The Vow of Silence is a Free The Children initiative. For information, visit www.freethechildren. com/vowofsilence. Letters to the editor The Oakville Beaver r 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 r reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Oakville Arena a memorable rink I came across your recent article on the Oakville arena, The Oakville Beaver r, Friday, Nov. 4, 2011, Is the clock ticking? My wife and I visited the arena when our grandson played there for England in the 2007-08 Oakville Tournament. We had been all over the UK, initially, watching our son, who was also an England (U-20) international player, play ice hockey, but we had never seen anything like Oakville. We got to talking with some Canadian parents and grandparents about the arena and got the complete history from a gentleman, who had skated there virtually on the day it opened in 1950. He told us, then, it was going to be pulled down and replaced, but I am now glad to see it has at least had a bit of a reprieve. The atmosphere in the arena was brilliant, there must only have been about 100 people there, so I would love to have been there for a full house. Of all the rinks we went to whilst out there, Oakville was our favourite. We were based in the Holiday Inn in Bronte, and did some 1,500 miles in a rental car. Our grandson played as far away as Barrie and Ajax, but those games were in modern rinks. We live in London, and there are only four full-size pads in a city of some 8 million people, so you, out there, are really lucky. I have now 'bookmarked' your article and will keep any eye on the old arena, hope it survives, it's only some three months older than me. George Pitchley, England