The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

A6 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday, December 17, 2003 EDITORIALS AMI LETTERS Till; lltKtll,IIIIEMR 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax; 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext 224 Circulation: 845-9742 IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MARK DILLS Production Mtuuiger KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RI2IER0 VERTOLLI Photography Director CHARLENE HALL Circulation Manager ROD JERRED Managing Editor U *cen jP n rftvfU tttw y&D o s tu m )LU .n X jO m Aylv'Y V rng >*w. AJtaJtr Hor^rVGxfW AflM/ U ttrm t N m i Bwnt A o w c s Brmplon Guardan. Poai CdMon Irtn t»w Cly P w t C afcyw xiW lw qi ComgcSan, I mK * r t tkrgr f r r M w a k C a r t y t a A n I t t a w Guvawv Hmww GoorgakNm M w n y r t A c t r F<w Pfwa 'wnston f e w * Kjrontt t L#«Js», V M . UarVun fconomjt A ' U r n VMcn C vw M n O m p e n M«on 9<o nvg **»*. iitkw sugi B u m N -- inw *0l*nxiC f»4*rm·*rtvt> "\in)'« *N o * W% M m r 0 *v « » Bm w v 0 * v « a iA sp n c Him. Oih»iwt'W<*»/aaflri0fcr Pat P«rr, T>» .Met*. C w S o u n dM u mP U f f u n a u nQ tm rm h fla rtm u p v lA a f c .P c t o n C o u n t yG u O eftc h n m im m i T h o rM 'a j^ m U t n r a l. S c a r tn n q hM m r . SW M M K nigt ' tui F o r * M fta p ® .C « yo J G u w iJN r THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: > . n u m «T ( H KV1 LIP Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community I Newspapers Association Halton Hcalthoirc YM.CA W /fe L r CO ON M F .^ Bet Fund T»» 0«r*«* Uftrr jpo Oatnct R IA L I f T A T I BO ARD ^A O A GC O N tn» M (+ C N A Canadian Community Newspapers Association mmtw Atm fieri SK Subuttian Newspapers o f America Q TV AUCTION I J^uon/ J / W i c t u TSsgir ® f t 81 U 11RRARV B Worst example of petty crime Just when you are sure you have seen the worst exam ples o f petty crim e along com es the callousness o f a couple o f thieves to low er the bar just a little bit more. Last w eek's news from Halton police that tw o men were posing as seniors' relatives in order to gain access to special-care facilities, where they proceeded to burglarize elderly residents' room s, may have set a new standard for how' low som e crim inals stoop. The suspects -- one described as a white m ale, about 55 years old with white hair and a white beard, the other a white male, about 19-20 years old with black hair -- entered private care room s to steal cash, credit cards and jew elry. Merry Christm as. Sadly, these heartlessly-executed heists are not without precedent. Halton residents know only too well o f other equally brazen thieves who com m itted their crim es in very public places and again targeting some our com m unity's most vulnerable. We have had punks sw iping poppy donation boxes a few days before Rem embrance Day. During one w eek last year, tw o boxes were stolen in Burlington and another seven in Ham ilton. D onations to the annual poppy cam paign help out C anada's w ar veterans -- the aging men and women who risked their lives so the rest o f us could live in peace. Halton police collared tw o young men in connection with those thefts. In years previous. O akville has seen sim ilar types o f petty crim e includ ing home im provem ent and lottery scams. Also in Halton. the Salvation Arm y donation kettles have been the tar get o f thieves. Perhaps, these sm all-tim e crim inals need a refresher course on the good w ork carried out by the Salvation Army. To target weak m em bers o f our society places the perpetrators o f these kinds o f crim es in the lowest order o f bottom -feeding thugs. In instances such as these, especially the latest crim es involving ailing seniors, it would be nice to see a judge sentence the culprits to super vised com m unity service w here they w ould be in direct contact with the victim s o f their cow ardly deeds. U nfortunately the effectiveness o f such a rem edy w ould be largely dependent on these cold-hearted crim inals still being governed by a conscience. B A D SAN TA... LETTERS Til THE EDITOR Town's decision to kill beaver, `made in haste highly illogical' Whenever a problem arises there are always several different solutions, as was the case pertaining to the Valleybrook beaver. The city reasoned that because of the safety problems of the location of the beaver pond (at the end of a toboggan hill) and because of the potential for the animal to destroy the habitat of the park, the animal must be eradicated. In addi tion to this, according to Oakville parks, catching the animal in live trap was dan gerous because a family pet had been injured in a similar situation in a nearby municipality. Unfortunately, this ration ale made on behalf of the Town of Oakville was made in haste and is highly illogical. First of all, the Town could easily place a sign saying "toboggan at your own risk" and I'm sure residents of the area could find an appropriate hill nearby. Another option would be a build a baffler through the dam. AH that is needed is some perforated PVC pipes and fencing, the cost of which is usually around only $40. These pipes allow water to flow past the dam silently, reducing the extent of the flooding caused by the dam but also, retaining enough water to allow the beaver to exist. The argument of habitat destruction represents a profound misunderstanding. In actuality, beavers make an incredible contribution to diversity and abundance of wildlife in an area. The pond that it creates is prime habitat for ducks and geese, for example. Trees near the edge of the pond are usually the ones the beaver cuts down and this removes shade on other smaller trees allowing them to grow and succes sion to occur. The water from the pond also provides a ready supply of water to tree roots. In a location such as Valleybrook Park where the number of trees isn't excessive, a simple solution is to place some fencing at the base of the tree trunks. It is very upsetting that a pet was injured in a neighbouring area through a live trap, but this should not set a prece dent against using them. I notified the Town as to alternative sanctuaries and refuges they could call, who have experts which know how to safely use a trap and would be able to take the beaver in. Thus, I was very disappointed that even when presented with these options, the Town still chose to kill the animal. I contacted four Town councillors, as well as the mayor which all thanked me for the information I sent however, the only one to take action on the issue was Renee Sandelowsky. I think this shows a flaw in terms of Town management as the issue did not even have to pass Council as it was filed under a mandate of parks. There was absolutely no need for this animal to die. If we treat our national symbol, the subject of the very name of our Town newspaper, in such a manner I shudder to think about the rest of the wildlife in this area. We need to remem ber that this is as much beaver habitat as it is ours. Instead of killing such ani mals. we need to learn to co-exist with them. I am deeply ashamed of Oakville's handling of the situation and hope the Town learns from this mistake in the future. LAURA PIERSOL Kids will alw ays rem em ber `needless killing' of beaver Cartoon misleading: board This letter, addressed to the Director o f Oakville's Parks ard Open Space, was submitted to the Beaverfo r publication. As a resident of North Oakville for more than 30 years. I have seen many changes to our precious environment, some good, and some not so good, and some very sad. I am absolutely appalled by the fact that you could not find another solution except a death sentence for the inno cent beaver at Valleybrook Park. How far we have come as a superior race to be so callous and heartless when it comes to nature! Surely, as an intelligent human being, you could have devised an alternate solution. It would seem your plan was the easiest and most cost effective. For many, many years to come, the school children, who from their hearts petitioned for this issue, w ill remember the grim needless killing of yet another innocent, displaced creature, well into their adult years. Was it too time con suming or too costly for affluent Oakville to relocate him to Mountsberg or elsewhere? Merry Christmas and... LYNNE CODEFROY Re: The Christmas in schools cartoon. The cartoon in Dec. 10. 2003 editorial section might wrongly lead Oakville residents to believe that schools in the Halton District School Board are directed not to include Christian traditions and celebrations. The Halton District School Board values and respects the traditions and celebra tion of all the members of the Halton community including but not limited to: Christmas, Rosh Hashana. Ramadan and Eid. Easter. Diwali. Chinese New Year. Hannukah. Kwanzaa. Naw Ruz, Ridvan and Vaisaikhi. Our schools are encouraged to represent both the faith and secular aspects of Christmas in a balanced way as well as to integrate information about many diverse faith traditions and celebrations according to Public Policy Memorandum 112 from the Ministry of Education. Our students are encouraged to become critical thinkers who participate in the global com munity. It is important that schools celebrate and acknowledge many traditions and celebrations in an authentic and respect ful way as part of developing an inclusive school culture. Each year schools are provided with the accurate dates of var ious faith and cultural traditions and celebrations, including faith-based Christian celebrations. Students are also encour aged to learn and use cultural and faith specific greetings like: "Merry Christmas," , "Happy Hanukkah" and "Ramadan Mubarak." At no time is a student's language around Christmas or any other celebration to be censored. Some peo ple may feel more comfortable using "Happy Holidays" as a way of being inclusive, but that is up to the individual's dis cretion. BARRY FINLAY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION HALTON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD Not acting, not an option when it comes to election results Sounds as if David Bazar is suffering from sour grapes at Rob Burton's election success (Letter to the editor. Dec. 10, Perhaps we need another election). I recall when Bazar himself ran for mayor a few years back, and lost dismally to Mulvale. Would he have walked away in this situation, particularly with all the unanswered questions of alleged mismanagement on the part of Town staff'? At this point, the choice for mayor is not clear. Mulvale has been around a long time and Burton gave her a good challenge. Had she decided to not run. she could have left with dignity. Unfortunately, politicians (Jean Chretien for example) stay too long and feel they own the job even though in the end they are beholden to the electorate. Nevertheless, an election is (supposed to be) a demo cratic process. Yes, it w ill be taxpayers who foot the bill and it's a real shame that we must pick up the tab based on alleged staff errors, but not acting, is not an option. 1would rather see a fair and clear election outcome than wait three years for another mess to occur. Who is being protected when aspersions are cast on the process? This is a dark mark on the face of Oakville that must be cleared. MARGARET MERCER Future tenant questions story I am writing to point out what I consider to be misinfor mation in the Dec. 3, article by Angela Blackburn on Warehouse developer turns dea f ear. The article refers to "up to 64 loading docks at the back of the warehouses." If anyone had merely looked at the plan registered with the Town of Oakville, they could see that a total of 26 docks are shown facing north, towards the nearest houses. In addition, these docks are well over 1.000 feet from the nearest property. The remaining docks are planned to face east and west in the other two buildings respectively. On the plan, the other two buildings have a total of 12 docks, bringing the total for the project far below the " 64" number from the article. I attended the last meeting with the Town regarding this property. At that time I heard of the serious (and very real) noise problems Ms. Langevin and her neighbours have been dealing with, referred to in the article "coming from Stanley." 1 asked at that meeting if they had addressed their current concerns to the Ministry of the Environment, as this is the body with authority over noise situations. I was surprised that they had not done so. At the same meeting it was pointed out that the proposed new buildings are well within guidelines as to noise. I am also not sure that the thoughts attributed to the representatives from HOOPP (Hospital's of Ontario Pension Plan) were cor rect. Why were there no quotes from HOOPP? This proposed building seems to be a political hot potato, but I believe that articles such as this one merely heighten the tension without correctly presenting the facts. To be completely above board, my company w ill be a ten ant in the new building. We are tenants in the existing buildings, which were described by the people from the nearby houses as virtually no problem at all as to noise. JOHN H. MULHOLLAND MANAGING DIRECTOR. ROCKWOOD The Oakville Beaver ts a member of the Ontario Press Coundl. 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 ter at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline Pud 'B i c f e H o m e f r o m ' By STEVE NEASE iff PU P/Y ourHAR/ 1 ,ir s l o n g t m UUlBERsrTY foR ClWteTMAS/ J YouR cu 5 m e s ARe WRINKLY WEARING. SHORTS AND , SANDALS IN / > , THE.SNOW · ' (% Y o u LO O K Y o u LO O K V SHASS' Y, A M D Y o tfR I A N DY O U