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ezbe QZauwsabiaîî Qbamptou Milton' Community Nwpapier Since 1860 a~T LU S I420OMAIN ST.EASIJ ILTON (CORNER OF MAIN & ON<TARIO)I 90-5 -100 R EA L E ST AT E See what's on the market inside S PO0R TS Haydar's Calder Cup bld fails short C O M M U N I T Y Relay for Life another success IaAK[A111Iil 4115 A Merln Puliato a o,17N.2esaJn 0 20 8Pgs-$ O(nl ,,, RELAY 0F HOPE: Above, The Milton Fair Grounds' grandstand Iights UP with a powerful message during Friday night's second annual Milton Relay for Life, whtch drew roughly 1,300 residents and has so fair raised $210,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. At right, Diane Vandenbossche flashes a huge smile while accepting her rose - as weI as applause from friends and family - during the evening kick-off Survivor Lap. At left, Cambrian Cancer Crusaders members (front row) Jaime Doherty and Natacha Serafin, and (back row) Meaghan Henderson, Kristen McCracken, Brenda Jobling and Laura Snider enjoy the weekend event. For related photos of Relay for Life, see page A8. Vastis awaits sentence for tree cutting Crown, defence miles apart on appropriate punishment By Stephanie Thiessen CANADIAN CHAMPION STAFF Three years after he plowed down more ihan 20 acres of trees from an environmental- 13, sensitive area, George Vastis' fate lies in the hands of a justice of the peace. Thursday afternoon, summations in his sentencing heaning concluded - meaning an end to the highly publicized, possihly prece- dent-setting case is in sighi. Not surprisingly, the outcomes sought by the prosecution and the defence are very very different. At Ontari o Provincial Offences Court in Milton, Crown attorney John Olah descrihed Vastis, a Burlington resideni, as a sophisticated businessman who knew exactly what he was doing when he neglected t0 gel the necessary permnits hefore clearing ahout 20,000 trees on his Fourth Line properry in Milton, near the Oakville horder. Olah tried bo împress upon the court the seniousness of Vastis' actions, and recomrnend- cd that he be ordered tu replani the foresi - to a tune of about haîf a million dollars - and pay a fine of up to $220,000, plus be subjeci to a prohation orcler. "This îs perhaps one of the niosi seriocis environimental infractions thais corne hel ore the courts in Ontario," Olah said of the dam- age to the property thai lies south of Britanniia Road and north of Hwy. 407, hetween Regional Road 25 and Trafalgar Road. Vastis anîd his numhered company were convicted last month of 44 counits of cutting trees in a woodlot and in an Envaronmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) in April and July of 2003, contrary 10 the Forestry Act. Vastis pleaded flot guilty t0 the charges in 2004. .Thursday, 22 of those counts - [or cutting in a woodlot - were staved to prevent a duplication of charges. Vasîts needs to he slapped with a severe penalty wo senid a message îo the comifntv thai -This cannot happen again." (Iah urged, adclîng Vastis macle a calculacci effort to ignore the rules. The faci the tree clearing was clone for prof- it wo huild a golf c ourse - wiic h Výastis con- tinues to deny - should resuli in an even harsher p)enalty, Olah tolcl the court. fhai Vastis oflered no apology is som ething - ee SITUATION on page A7 Today's Chamupion OPINION A6 BUSINESS CHAMPION coTJNT1IYA12 DATEINE A10 CLASSIFIED A21i www.haltonsearch.com 0 0 0 www.miltontoyota.com XLf-0 b 1 y www.gorrudsautogroup.com dir:i9O5) 542-2745 Jack ý'*4Nasarzewski Broker All