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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Wednesday, April 2, 2014 | 6 They are heroes every day Twitter was a feeding frenzy as news outlets rushed to be rst to report the shooting at the A. Grenville and William Davis Courthouse in Brampton last Friday. Reporters onsite and anyone else with a cellphone were posting raw footage as fast as their ngers would allow. It was instant news, a chance to be rst with the headline of an of cer down and a suspect shot dead. It was an unfolding story that had people glued to all media outlets. News crews captured police cars anking a speeding ambulance carrying the wounded of cer on its emergency run to a Toronto trauma centre. The wail of the sirens and the unknown shooter at the courthouse made for real-life drama at every corner. Our website -- insidehalton.com -- was also updating the tragedy as it unfolded. However, one wonders how the headlines would have read had the of cer not been shot. What if the suspect had pulled a gun but not red? What if the of cer managed to shoot the culprit rst without being struck by a bullet? What if the of cer believed he had seen a weapon but there was none? What if the weapon was actually a replica or merely a child's toy? How would the story have played then? How would the media have interpreted the incident? Would we be describing the of cer as a hero? Probably not. Many in the media would be swift to condemn, judging a situation from the sidelines. The scenarios of what ifs are plentiful. There are many reasons why police draw their weapons -- to handle a threat to public and personal safety or to euthanize an injured animal. There are also alternatives available to police drawing their rearm -- Tasers, batons, physical restraint tactics. We are very well aware not all police of cers are perfect. Policing is dubbed the thin blue line because ofcers walk that precarious line every day in the line of duty. They face scenarios most people don't even fathom. Often a decision must be made in a split second. Of cers place themselves into harm's way, all in the line of duty. If the Brampton incident had played out differently, how many armchair critics would have jumped in to say this is another example of the police acting too fast in taking down a suspect? They might second-guess the of cer as if they were there themselves. Peel Const. Mike Klarenbeek is already a hero; he didn't have to take a bullet to prove it. Editorial H A P P Y N E W Y E "Connected to your Community" A R 447 Speers Road, Oakville ON, L6K 3S4 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 51 | Number 39 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production The Halton Region Chinese Canadian Association presented a cheque for $15,567.38 to Acclaim Health -- proceeds from the annual Chinese New Year Banquet. Presenting the funds, from left, are Mary Lui, founding executive of the association and Louis Tsai, association president, to Angela Brewer, CEO Acclaim Health, and Dr. Peter Garrod, chair of the Acclaim Health board. | photo by Graham Paine ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @ halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) SANDY PARE MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution Local education watchdog watches FDK debate We are closely following the situation at the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB), where parents are ghting the board's decision not to implement full-day Kindergarten (FDK) at their local neighbourhood school because it has become single-track French Immersion, even though Ministry of Education policy documents -- and even the education ministry website -- say "full-day Kindergarten will be available in all publicly-funded elementary schools" by September 2014. The York families have started a petition to the Ontario Ministry of Education trying to right this wrong and realized their board was not unique. "There are a lot of schools in the province that offer single-track French Immersion programs without offering full-day Kindergarten. This has become a provincial issue." They have hired a lawyer to ght for what their children are entitled to. In the meantime, the YCDSB has asked the ministry if it must offer FDK in all schools -- all parties involved are waiting for a response from Liz Sandals. With Halton District School Board having single-track Letter to the Editor CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager French Immersion schools (only in Oakville), this decision will greatly affect things here. It is shocking to us more Oakville families aren't up in arms over HDSB's decision to not offer FDK in all schools because the Education Act clearly states: "every board shall, in every elementary school of the board in which instruction is given in some or all of the primary division, operate a full-day junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten ...". There was a segment on CTV news a few weeks ago that said teachers are noting many FDK classes are bursting at the seams. It certainly doesn't help there are ve of Oakville's schools (Pinegrove, Forest Trail, Sunningdale, Munn's and EJ James) that do not and will not be offering FDK. Wouldn't it help to alleviate the crowding if all schools were obliged to offer FDK as per the Ministry's policy? We anxiously await the Minister's decision. Jennifer Wilson Halton Families for Inclusive Neighbourhood Schools (HFFINS) Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: 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, 5040 Mainway, Burlington ON L7L 7G5 or via e-mail to; ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. 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. 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