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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, April 13, 2012 · 6 Opinion & Letters 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 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Canadian Circulation Audit Board Member THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America Canadian Community Newspapers Association ATHENA Award Neil Oliver Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The OakvilleBeaver 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 Halton Region is fortunate in so many ways. And with springtime here, all of us should take a few moments to reflect on what we have rather than on what we would like to have. We live in an area that is blessed with the beauty of the Niagara Escarpment, a wonderful parks system and conservation areas, bike paths along the lakefront and museums that have captured our heritage. We have impressive memorials to honour the fallen, performing arts centres to showcase our talent, and recreation centres to keep us active and healthy. We have access to some of the finest health-care facilities in the country and if we need assistance, organizations like the Red Cross, Salvation Army and United Way-funded agencies are just a phone call away. Each municipality has its own set of services and residents are fortunate to be able to call on various agencies to help them through tough times. We have a high standard of living -- statistics tell us that. However, those numbers do not properly reflect the many Halton residents struggling to make ends meet. There is a hidden poverty that needs our attention. It is barely visible, but growing more so, at local food banks such as Kerr Street Ministries, Oakville's Fareshare food bank and the Salvation Army. The homeless can be found living in the community, sometimes under the stars, but more often couch surfing, in vehicles, with friends or family. You can do your part to help by making donations of money and products to local food banks. Uncertainty in the economy and job market, has placed heavy demands on area food banks. When out shopping for your weekly food, think of the families, seniors and single adults who may not have enough money to cover all of their bills plus the cost of groceries. Fareshare has donation bins in all the local supermarkets and in-person donations are always accepted by the local food banks. Items most needed at the food banks include canned meats, canned fruit, peanut butter, juice and juice boxes, pasta/sauce, pre-packaged dinner mixes and toiletries. Dropoff locations are at any local fire station and a host of grocery stores. Financial donations are always sought to purchase food at wholesale cost and to provide fresh food, produce, meats and dairy for children. Halton is a great place to call home and we can all do our part to make life easier for those less fortunate -- those whose fortune has simply fallen on hard times. 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. There is need Clarifying the record Re: Pension Plans, Wednesday, April 4, 2012 Recent media editorials regarding MP pensions, including one in The Oakville Beaver, have not been factual. Here are a few untrue claims that need to be corrected. First, MP pensions are guaranteed. In fact, 43 per cent of MPs who serve in the Parliament of Canada receive no pension because they have no guarantee of job security and are not re-elected to meet the six-year requirement. Second, if MPs serve six years, they are eligible to collect full pension benefits at age 55, or half their salary (or $55,000) depending on which myth you hear. This is not true. By the next election, I will have served the people of Oakville for 7.2 years. My pension, as it stands right now, would then be about $27,000 a year. The Beaver stated that "when hidden contributions are factored in, MPs pensions rise at the rate of 10.4 per cent each year." This is not true. Facts are also left out. The Beaver stated the federal government does not want to lead, but neglected to mention we froze MP budgets three years ago in 2009 to save the taxpayers $10 million to date, and froze MPs pay at the same time to save the taxpayers another $10 million to date, thus reducing future pension payouts. MPs are now earning over 10 per cent less than they would have been without this reduction. That is leadership. We froze our own pay three years before asking Canadians to accept a postponed OAS payment being phased starting 11 years from now. We will continue the savings next year by moving towards a 50/50 contribution for all government plans, including the MP plan. And we will balance the budget by 2015 without raising taxes as promised. Terence Young, Oakville MP 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. Sweeney Todd a definite must-see If you're looking for some good local talent, drive over to Sheridan College and take in their current production of the musical Sweeney Todd. I saw the show recently. I'm always amazed at how much talent this college produces. It not only shows in the actors, who are superb by the way, it also helps to have good lighting, sound and set decoration to compliment the performers on stage. The "unseen" performers have done a remarkable job. The singing by all the actors is outstanding. I can't act, nor sing, so it mesmerizes me how Tringa Rexhepi as Mrs. Lovett (alias Mrs. Todd) and Amir Haidar as Sweeney Todd can remember all their songs. Both were on stage for about 90 per cent of the show's time. Other individual performers were equally as good, as was the ensemble company who gave rousing performances of The Ballad of Sweeney Todd and City on Fire to name just two. The story of Sweeney Todd is not like an Oklahoma-type of play, which they did beautifully last time, but the acting and singing is well worth the admission price. It's much less expensive than Toronto prices, it's local and you get to see what great talent we have in Oakville. The show's on for a couple of weeks, so why not go and see it? David Cartwright, Oakville By Steve Nease neasecartoons@gmail.com Pud