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The Oakville Beaver, W e d n e sd a y July 3, 2002 - A 7 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Resident urges Salvation Army to withdraw shelter proposal An open letter to: Joyce Savoline Halton Regional Chair, The Mayor, Oakville Town Councillors. The Salvation Army, The Oakville Beaver. I recently received The Town o f Oakville publication, A m essage to the residents o f Ward 6. I must say that I believe if this issue had been originally handled in an open and transparent fashion, with citizen involvem ent, we would not have the anger that is resonating in our com m unity today. You talk about allowing the public to be educated. Part of the education process is to ask questions - tough questions. Sadly, when concerned residents asked these questions in the Oakville B eavers Letters to the Editor, those res idents were marginalized by others, being referred to as having a "mother bear stance" or even worse called Xenophobic and closed-minded. We now have people digging in on both sides o f the issue and nothing but bad feelings will result. I believe Major Braddock was quot ed in The Oakville Beaver as saying that "We're not trying to shove this through on anyone." We all need to take a step back and try this again. As good corporate citizens. The Salvation Army should withdraw its application for the current site so that the residents o f Oakville can have an honest voice in the process. The city should form a citizen-based ad hoc committee to review the follow ing issues. What are the current needs o f Oakville's homeless? What are the safety issues needs of the surrounding community? What location if any will satisfied the needs of both parties? The recommendations o f this com mittee can then be added as a referen dum in the next election. Then all o f O akville will have a say on the direction o f our com m u nity. Again, that I believe if this issue had been originally handled in an open and transparent fashion, with citizen involvement, we would not have the anger that is resonating in our commu nity today. Russ Pfeifer Hong Kong businessman says thanks to The Oakville Beaver for head start Greetings from Hong Kong. I'm writing to say thank you to the Oak\'ille Beaver. I'll tell you why. Recently a Canadian friend returned from vacation in Oakville and brought me a copy of your paper. He did so because he knew of my association with it long ago. In 1967 I left Australia to travel the world (I haven't stopped). In Toronto that year I spent a morn ing with a vocational psychologist in Toronto. This because I wanted a career to follow. He said journalism would suit me. I went straight to the offices of the Toronto Telegram newspaper, which closed down a few years later. I asked to see the editor and was shown into his office. His name was Percy Rowe. I told him I wanted a job as a reporter. He asked what experience I had. I told him none. He looked incredulous, and asked what I'd written. I told him nothing. He shook his head and then fell about laughing. When he finally recovered he suggested I speak to a friend of his who was editor of the Oakville Beaver. I went to see him and repeated my story: I wanted a job as a journalist and I'd never written a thing. He collapsed in hysteria, but, like Percy Rowe, recovered enough to allow that I might be serious. Then he said: "Listen, one thing I do need is a week end reporter, so you're it. Call me Fridays and I'll give you some assign ments. You can hand in your pieces on Monday. "OK7* <3> O A K V I L L E w w w .to w n .o a kville .o n .ca Did You G et Your W ard N ew sletter? I said. "OK? That's great." "Oh. and by the way," he said, "Your salary is zero. Nothing." For about a year that's what I did. Every weekend. For nothing. Soon I had a stack of clippings with my name on them. I left Canada in 1969. Three years later I was working on national dailies in London, U.K. I then ran a public relations company for 'James Bond' -- Sean Connery. On to Hong Kong where I ran the office of a major international PR firm. For the past four years I've been writing books. I have also written over 600 satirical columns for A sia's largest English language daily. And I'm still in Hong Kong. It all began with some kindness and great generosity from an editor in Toronto, and his buddy at the Beaver. Thank you! PETER SHERWOOD VIA E-MAIL Last week, the Town of Oakville distributed the spring/summer edition o f the Ward Newsletters, an excellent source o f information about what s happening in your community. If you haven t received your Ward Newsletter, please let us know and we will mail you one right away! Call us at (905) 845-6601, ext. 3163 or e-mail publicinquiry@ town.oakville.on.ca. Town of Oakville Ward System Town of Milton Resident upset with board over portables In response to Mr. Drew Currah's letter printed in the W ednesday, June 19 edition. Unfortunately, Mr. Currah has the wrong end of the stick. If he had remained at the meeting, instead of storming out, he would have realized that Ward 1 Councillors Ralph Robinson and Kevin Flynn held the meeting to: a) listen to concerns from their constituents regarding the Halton D istrict School B oard's (HDSB) plans, unlike the board, and b) explain the Site Plan Committee process. At no time did they attempt to direct the meeting as a "board bashing" exer cise, nor did they attempt to make "political hay", unlike Mr. CuiTah. They were merely attend ing to concerns raised, but ignored by the HDSB. in the proposal to situate seven (down from 12) portables at Eastview Public School. The councillors are to be commended for their approach to this issue. I, unlike Mr. Currah. attended the site plan meet ing, as did many other con cerned parents and residents. The HDSB was woefully unprepared (disinterested?) to answer numerous ques tions regarding their applica tion and, as a result, was refused site plan approval. Their cavalier attitude to education issues in south west Oakville was justly rebuffed. W hile the provincial education funding formula is inadequate, it is not the sole reason for the prob lems facing the HDSB. ALAN JOHNSTON Lake Ontario W ard 1 2 3 C ouncillor W ard C ouncillor Ralph Robinson and K evin Flynn* 4 Linda H ardacre and Fred O liver* Tedd Sm ith and Keith Bird* Jody Sanderson and A llan Elgar* 5 Janice C aster and Je ff Knoll* 6 Janice W right and Kurt Franklin* * indicates member of Regional Council 1225 TRAFALGAR ROAD · OAKVILLE, ONTARIO · L6J 5A6 (9 0 5 ) 8 4 5 -6 6 0 1 Hydro costs are something to beef about Since the electricity sector has moved to an open market, prices have fluctuated greatly. The aver age cost of electricity (S/MWh) in May was $29.19 with a high of $100 and a low of $7.84. During the first week in June the costs (Average / High / Low) were $38, $701, and $19. From these figures, it appears that prices can fluctuate wildly. Who knows what the prices next week will be. In addition, some Ontarians have entered into long term con tracts with retailers. At present, I think most of these folks are paying a steady rate of around $59/MWh. It seems that everybody is paying different rates for the same essential service/product. Wouldn't it make sense to keep the electric industry in public hands (to keep control of the sys tem), charge at a rate for electric ity consumption slightly above industry costs to generated trans mit and deliver the product (power at cost + x%), and use this surplus (x%) to pay down the debt of the former Ontario Hydro. This would ensure everyone is paying the same rate for this essential service.The way its being run now only ensures that some folks are paying more for the product than it is worth. Also, if we must pay more, the profits from overpaying should go towards paying off the provincial debt, not to lining some businessman's pocket. JIM FERGUSON Tupperware* Brand Products M a c D o n a ld ·S w a n L itig a t io n Co unsel L L P MS 25% to 75% OFF Regular Price Friday, July 5/02 - 12:00pm · 9:00pm Saturday, July 6/02 - 9:00am - 1:00pm CAM Personal Injury Litigation · Insurance Litigation We welcome readers' thoughts, opinions The Oakx ille Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published, letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to T he Editor, O akville Beaver, 467 Speers Road, Oakville, On., L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@ oakvillebeaver.com . The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish any letter. Free in itia l 1 /2 hour consultation CORNWALL BUSINESS CENTRE 1540 C ornw all. S uite 106, O akville r 7j O.E.W. 905-629-2882 (across from M aplegrove Mall) w w w .m a c d o n a ld a n d s w a n .c o m (905) 8 4 2 -3 8 3 8 a C o rn w a ll L iV e July 29 - August 2 A Faith based program that teaches youth the importance of giving back to the community. 300 youth from across North America volunteering their skills and enthusiasm. Ages 5-9 Location-. Coronation Park Time: 12:30p.m.-3:30p.m. 2) Baseball Sports Camp: Ages 7-12 Location: Mills Bank Park Time: 9a.rn.-11:30a.m. 3) Amazon Day Camp: Ages 5-9 Location: Mills Bank Park Time: 12:30p.m.-3:30p.m. 4) Amazon Day Camp: Ages 5-9 Location: Lakeside Park Time: 12:30p.m.-3:30p.m. 5) Basketball Sports Camp: Ages 7-12 Location: Rebecca Gardens Fee is $10 per ch ild or Time: 12:30p.m.-3:30p.m. $20 per fam ily, per lo cation 1) Amazon Day Camp: 6) Amazon Day Camp: S a tu rd ay , July 6 BAND Join us fo r a traditional roast beef dinner w ith a ll the trimmings plus dessert! 3 MOM Join us every Tuesday & Wednesday after 9:00 p.m. Ages 5-9 Location: Rebecca Gardens Time: 9:00a.m.-11:30a.m. 7) Soccer Camp: Ages 9-12 Location: Postrldge Park Time: 9:00a.m.-11:30a.m. 8) Amazon Day Camp: Ages 5-9 Location: Postrldge Park Time: 12:30p.m.-3:30p.m. 9) Amazon Day Camp: Ages 5-9 Location: Lawson Park Time: 9:00a.m.-11:30a.m. 10) Tennis Camp: Ages 7-12 Location: Lawson Park Time: 12:30p.m.-3:30p.m. Every Sunday 2:00 p.m. - 9:00 pm $10.9? Monday Sunday for "WINGS 35C" each Eat-in Only Saturday's & Sunday's British Breakfasts served all morning L unch & Dinner Spedals ABBEY A R M SOakville's PUB RESTAURANT Brought to you by by SancTi jd iiL iu a r y A Church for Your Heart. Mind & Spirit /"The 481 North Service Rd. West at 4th Line 905-825-1109 For more details call 905*257-3987 Special thanks to our sponsors ^ T E L U S T itttH e U e M H a lt o n S e a r c h .e ^ K t n I U tta w s J b to ty rQ