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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, July 6, 2012 · 6 Opinion & Letters 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 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 KIM MOSSMAN Circ. Manager Just before school ended for another year, the Canadian Red Cross issued an alert urging people to think of safety when it comes to young people and the water. Then, as the first long weekend of the summer arrived, it proved to be tragic on Ontario waterways with seven people believed to have drowned (two of the seven went missing on or near water and hadn't been located as of the start of the new week). Although organizations such as the Canadian Red Cross emphasize the need for water safety education and swimming lessons for young people, last weekend's victims were all adults -- ranging in age from 19 to 79. According to the Canadian Red Cross, each year, an average of 400 Canadians drown, and more than half of those occur during the summer months. Recent polling shows that despite significant water safety education and awareness programming, there is still a gap in Canadians' behaviour around the water. "Swimming skills alone aren't always enough to save a life," said Shannon Scully-Pratt, water safety program representative for the Red Cross. "Learning to swim is important, but learning water safety is key to preventing an emergency in or on the water. Swimming skills, combined with safety knowledge and skills, saves lives." Of the 160 people who drown while boating each year, nearly 90 per cent aren't properly wearing a lifejacket, according to the Red Cross. Other Red Cross findings include: · While 82 per cent of Canadians believe there's a legal requirement to wear a lifejacket when boating, only 50 per cent of boat owners always wear their lifejacket · Only 46 per cent of children know how to swim · For 51 per cent of Canadians, `not allowing children under 10 years old to access the pool area' is their only strategy to prevent injuries related to backyard pools · Fourteen per cent of Canadians keep lifejackets on the boat, believing they will have time to find and put on a lifejacket while falling out of the boat Alcohol consumption is another factor that far too often plays a role in adult drowning. While summer and activities on or near water will always go hand in hand, last weekend's deaths are a reminder of how failing to be water smart can have tragic consequences. 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. Be water smart Woman appeals not to burn 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. MPP seeks a reasonable balance I take exception to the comments by Emma Fisher-Cobb printed in a recent edition in response to my column on my pesticide bill. She said that fearing fatal consequences from weeds is laughable. I invite Ms. Fisher-Cobb to laugh at the family of the Ontario man who died after exposure to cow parsley, a toxic weed. Unfortunately, it has not dawned on Ms. Fisher-Cobb that taking no action on flying and growing pests, such as those which carry Lyme disease, means they will extend their range into more populated places. Indeed, Giant Hogweed is very toxic and is gaining ground in Ontario as no action has been taken to control it. By putting pesticides into the hands of licensed professionals and keeping them away from homeowners, my bill is specifically designed to avoid "dousing our gardens and Earth with chemicals" as Ms. Fisher-Cobb puts it, while striking a reasonable balance between desired and necessary battles with aggressive pests. Ted Chudleigh, Halton MPP This July 1 weekend delighted many people as they gathered across Canada to celebrate our nation at many activities that took place in small villages, towns, and larger urban areas. Sadly, people throughout our country were disappointed as a majority of communities in urban areas still condone, support and enable outdoor open air burning. Fire pits, fire rings, woodfuelled barbecues, wood food smokers, backyard bon fires, chimeneas and other wood-burning devices smoked out entire neighbourhoods. With the extreme heat and high humidity, this urban threat of wood burning took centre stage in most communities. Backyards were lit up in the dark with a smoke-filled haze that drifted onto blocks farther away. People could not keep windows open. People with heart, lung and respiratory illnesses were made ill by the toxic-laced emissions from woodsmoke. Not only are Canadians disappointed with woodsmoke doing grave harm to their life, they are very disappointed with the lack of leadership, lack of caring and lack of knowledge many of our elected leaders appear to have regarding this deadly, toxic issue of community woodsmoke. Ban/end/prohibit all wood-burning devices in our Canadian communities. Air is precious... start protecting it. Linda Baker Beaudoin, Cornwall Bronte fireworks were brilliant for Canada Day The Bronte Village BIA and the Bronte business owners are to be congratulated on their magnificent and most generous display of fireworks to the community on Canada Day. They have done this for many years, but this year, I truly believe that they surpassed themselves. The displays were an absolute work of art, depicting, it appeared to be, bouquets of flowers in ornate vases. The swirls of cascading colours were magnificent as could be heard in the appreciative `oohs' and `aahs' from the crowd. The finale this year was absolutely brilliant, instead of a cacophony of noise, we had the most brilliant display of colour imaginable. Kudos to you business people of Bronte, you over did our expectations. Thank you so very much for making us appreciate living in this wonderful land called Canada. Suzanne M. Whiteley, Oakville