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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, February 2, 2012 · 6 The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 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. Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Letters to the Editor Resident not happy with vote Neil Oliver Vice-President and Group Publisher, Metroland West 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 RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association MARK DILLS Director of Production Manuel garcia Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution Sarah McSweeney Circ. Manager Website oakvillebeaver.com The OakvilleBeaver is a division of Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America Re: A letter to Halton Regional council on fluoride debate of Tuesday, Jan. 31 Today, I am not proud to be a Halton resident. I am an optimist and believe in the democratic process, but, you did not do your due diligence. It is my strong belief you will look back one day on this decision with regret. Those who know the truth, do not need to resort to belittling their opponent. People should not live in fear of presenting an opposing view. It takes courage to challenge status quo. You did not have the courage to do it. And, no doubt in my mind, that like Dr. Robert Nosal, you have not taken the time to actually read the so-called "high level evidence". If you had, as I did, you could not with a clear conscience vote as you did. Mary Pearson, Oakville THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: One councillor's response... United Way of Oakville ATHENA Award recently gave back to the community by donating their time at the Fareshare food bank, located at 1240 Speers Rd. The team of 17 boys, aged 9-10, spent the better part of a Saturday morning helping out at the food bank after bringing more than 50 pounds of food donations to help feed the hundreds of people who depend on Fareshare for their meals. HELPING THE COMMUNITY THROUGH SPORT: The Oakville Rangers Minor Atom AAA hockey team SUBMITTED PHOTO I read the material submitted to us. I read the material e-mailed to us. I read how some people were referring to us as "murderers and irresponsible for allowing poison" into our water system. I read how medical personnel were asking us for the sake of the whole community to either leave it in or take it out. I chuckled as I read how there was a government conspiracy to allow big business to "dump fluoride." In the end, when I hear from active medical professionals who represent the Region, province and country tell me removing fluoride will have a direct impact on those most vulnerable in our society, I take notice. I have advocated and worked for the last few years at a local, regional and national level for people who live in poverty and are disadvantaged. I worked with the Halton Poverty Roundtable and would love to reduce our levels in Halton from the nine per cent it is now. How can I say to them, yes I want to help, but I plan to impact your basic dental health? When I spoke, I said we need to do a better job of providing services to the poor around dental and medical items. There are people who, for a variety of reasons, find themselves in circumstances where they do not have adequate dental access, housing, nutritional food or security. We, as councillors, need to think of all our citizens, but must act especially for those who may not speak the loudest. We are the only level of government that will take items like this, debate it and allow people to come and delegate. Neither the provincial or federal government will do that. We have our debates in open forums and live stream them. In our Council prayer, we are asked to "be mindful of the needs of all the citizens of the Region of Halton and to govern with the wider community in mind." We do that on every vote. We are accountable for our actions and all of us vote with our conscience. I know when I voted it was with a clear conscience and knowing I was making the right decision based on my beliefs and what I had read. We were dealing with an item that clearly should be provincial or federal, but as they do not act, we are left to do it in an open manner. We are, and will always remain, the level of government closest to the people. I think every citizen of Halton should be proud of the debate as we did it with respect, decorum and allowed opposing views. I have never been more proud to serve this great region and its citizens. Clark A. Somerville, Halton Hills regional councillor He'd be fine with February if only he could handle the hype I 'm a tough guy. I can handle most of what February throws at me. Like Groundhog Day, wherein various venerated varmints in assorted settings forecast the fate of winter amid a plethora of publicity. Oh, and heaven help me, Leap Day, wherein I'm expected to go gaga over the fact that this year's rendition of this runt of a month has a whole extra day. Well, whoop-de-doo. Yeah, I can handle all of that, but what I can't handle is the hype. February, you see, has more collective hype than any other month of the year -- and that's speaking volumes, bearing in mind that December contains both Christmas and New Year's Eve. Even if we ignore all the heinous hype surrounding Groundhog Day, this month still plays host to what I'm calling The Tripleheader of Hype. Consider that over a period of three weeks -- 21 hype-happy days -- we will be forced to endure the incessant, absurd, numbing hoopla of Super Bowl XLVI, another odious and over-the-top edition of Valentine's Day, and the 84th annual (and invariably awful) Academy Awards. It wasn't always this way. While Valentine's Day is a longtime fixture in February, the Super Bowl was formerly contested in January and the Oscars in March, affording us some welcome recovery time between onslaughts. While Valentine's Day is celebrated in various areas of the world, the Super Bowl and the Oscars are strictly American inventions. Face it, while our neighbours to the south did not invent hype, they perfected it. They took basic hype -- which was good Andy Juniper enough for most people -- and then they "kicked it up a notch," to borrow a phrase from American chef Emeril Lagasse. Don't get me wrong. I love a little build-up -- and I love a lot of football. Therefore, it stands to reason, I must surely love the Super Bowl. But, you know, by the time the New England Patriots and the New York Giants take the field this Sunday in Indianapolis, the media will have pretty much assured that the game will harbour no hope of living up to the hype. Seriously, if the contest goes into overtime and is won on a 99-yard Tom Brady bomb, I'll be in my armchair, thinking: honestly, I was expecting more. The same goes for the Academy Awards, slated for Sunday, Feb. 26. The Academy is quick to tell you that some 800-trillion television sets are tuned into the show each year. What they don't say is that the owners of all those turned-on/ tuned-in televisions are fast asleep long before any award of any significance is handed out, lulled into a coma by what is surely the dullest marathon on television -- a marathon only made duller by the great expectations infused into the festivities by the hype machine. And, of course, at some point between the Super Bowl and the Oscars, there is Valentine's Day. Poll 100 romantics and you'll hear 100 times over that the key to romance is spontaneity. And how exactly does spontaneity fit in to the prefab, commercially packaged Valentine's Day -- a day wherein it is deemed (indeed demanded) we be romantic? It doesn't. But the hype commands us to be Cupids. Or else. Hey, no pressure there. You know, once upon a time, I could handle February. Nowadays I can't handle the hype. Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook at www.facebook.com, or followed at www.twitter.com/ thesportjesters.