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

A 6 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday, A ugust 21, 2002 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association » Canadian Community Newspapers Association EDITORIALS MD LETTERS IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief STEVE CROZIER Circulation Director MARK DILLS Production Manager ROD JERRED KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 337-5610 Circulation: 845-9742 Managing Editor Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier. Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Barry's Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent Collingwood/Wasaga Connection. East York Mirror. Erin Advocate/Country Routes. Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Post, Georgetown independent/Acton Free Press. Harriston Review, Huronla Business Times, Kingston This Week. Ljndsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, MidlarxVPenetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News. Mississauga Business Times. Mississauga News. Napanee Guide. Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner. Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News. Oldtlmers Hockey News, Orillia Today. Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Peny This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer. Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hffl/Thomhill/Vaughan Liberal. Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune. Forever Ytjung, City of Ybrk Guardian THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: . nteV ctt. H a lto n H ealth care YMCA y-- V | V l/fiL C 1oakville galleries | .# Jinge Be/I Fund W" r Sts a P C X VO iJ S N E S ten #A R T S WEES te M U tt > The Oakville Milton and District SK i Suburban Newspapers o< America to n (9ah>it/e TV AUCTION United Way of Oakville F O R B U S IN E S S E X C E L L E N C E REAL ESTATE BOARD A question of loyalty Let's see if we have this straight. A ccording to O akville Liberal MP Bonnie Brown, the "loyalty letter" signed by 94 Liberal MPs has nothing to do with the power struggle between Prime M inister Jean Chretien and for mer Finance M inister Paul Martin. Actually, according to Brown, there is no leadership race between Chretien and Martin because the party president has not yet called for a leadership con vention. The "loyalty letter" she explained was simply a declaration of support for the Prime M inister in these troubled times. And, she would have us believe, all the fuss about a power struggle within the Liberal Party is simply a figment of the m edia's imagination along with that of a few impatient Martin supporters. Except for a few Martin m alcon tents, the party is one big happy family. Well, someone has an active imagi nation, but, in this case, we d o n 't believe it's the media. Ever since he left his Cabinet post, M artin has been criss-crossing the country drumming up support for his leadership bid and raising funds for his war chest. The Liberal leadership race may not have been officially called, but Martin is already running. And while he may not be cam paign ing publicly, Chretien is not sitting back idly while Martin lines up his support. D on't be fooled. The "loyalty letter" was Chretien's way of flexing his mus cle and letting his minions know he is the boss. O f the 94 signatures on the letter approximately 60 of them are Cabinet ministers or parliamentary secretaries (including Brown). The letter was Chretien's way of reminding them who they should be thanking for their status within the party. The timing of the letter's release -- just before a full Caucus retreat in Chicoutimi, Quebec -- is not purely coincidental, either. And while we wish the caucus was discussing important items such as the Kyoto Accord or the United States' impending war against Iraq, we have a feeling the Liberal pow er struggle between Chretien and Martin will be the overshadowing theme at the gathering. B row n's com m ents notw ithstand ing, we believe the "loyalty letter" is a last ditch grasp by Chretien to maintain control o f a party that is fast deserting him. A leader in firm control of his party, doesn't require a heavy-handed letter directed at his members demanding a show of support. Loyalty should be earned by a leader's actions and qualifications, not by his threats. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dogs should be leashed on trails j Shelter opposition weakened community My letter is addressed to the various dog owners in Oakville. I am an avid runner and I run many of the trails in Oakville including Glen Abbey, Sixteen Mile Creek and Joshua Creek trails. While running the Joshua Creek Trail, on literally dozens of occasions, I have had a run-in with dogs who have been allowed to run off-leash by their owners. Most times this has not amounted to anything, and I simply pass the dogs by unnoticed. On several occasions though, I have had dogs jum p on me and want to play, usually after running in something fairly foul smelling in the creek. But, more seriously, on two occasions now, I have had a dog lunge and bite at me. To put this story in perspective, one of the dogs was a lab mix and the other was a boxer. Many of the dogs that I have encountered have been medium to large sized dogs includ ing one Bouvier. I am sure that many of the dog-owning readers of this letter will dismiss me as a "non-dog owner/lover." Nothing could be further from the truth. I grew up on a farm out west with many of my best friends being German shepherds, col lies and doberman crosses. I have also owned a rotweiller and a beagle, amongst other animals. I truly love dogs, but it is unfair o f you dog owners who take dogs into designat ed "leashed" public parks, especially running trails, and let your dogs run uncontrolled. I know that all of the dog owners reading this letter will say that, "their dog would never hurt anyone", but who are you to judge, especially when someone comes running at you on a sometimes narrow trail? The main point is that, while you may feel confident in your ability to assess your dog's temperament, are you that confident to allow other dog owners to do the same? Are not the newspapers and popular media filled with stories every year about people, especially children, getting hurt or killed by unsupervised dogs? Are you not setting an example for some other dog owner to do the same as you and allow his/her dog to run uncontrolled? I am not only thinking of the runners out there, who I am sure have encountered the same problem. I have often seen, nannies and grandmothers leading children into the trails for walks. What are they going to do with two or three children when a dog starts to attack one of them? I would also be remiss in not making note that the Town of Oakville is the official body that created these public areas. If the Town is going to create these areas, specifical ly with signs that designate these areas as "on-leash", then they had better patrol them. Otherwise they are accomplices in inviting grandmothers and nannies to walk with children in these parks to their detriment. The result of a potential run-in could cost the taxpayers of Oakville hundreds of thousands of dollars in negligence claims. As news of The Salvation Army's withdrawal of its application to build a center for emergency short term and tran sitional housing continues to sink in to residents of Ward 6, the `quiet optimism' of the residents of the ward must be turn ing to jubilation. Residents brought enough pressure to Town and Regional politicians to make them fold like a house of cards. The Salvation Army was then asked to withdraw its application before the heat got hot enough to bum away chances of re-election. The rumour in the community now is that community residents have halted the project through their opposition. Hopefully, this is not true. Even if it were true, this community wouldn't have suc ceeded at doing anything but weakening itself. The real strength of a community is in how it treats its most vulnerable mem bers. In this community that remedy involves ignoring them or simply ship ping them off to other municipalities so they can continue believing that they have no problem and go on wallowing in their own affluence. It is easy to maintain the appearance of wealth and good fortune if you do not allow the poor to exist in the community, shipping people out of Town the second they fail to meet your standards. Many of the objections in the com munity have little to do with the project itself, although some do cry of the poten tial impact to their pocketbooks should their property values go down. The most vocal spew anti-poor com ments and assert that the poor the centre would service would be mostly crimi nals, who were only coming to loot their community, sell drugs, begin the sex trade and prey on their children. The Salvation Army has tried to present their case and speak to the very real concerns of community safety, the track record of serving Halton thus far and provide a face for the homeless and impoverished that would use the services of the shelter, but the mob wants no part of it There is a sign I remember seeing in the hands of a homeless man, who must have been in his `60s, it said "While homelessness is being studied, homeless people are dying", and so it is in Halton. The Iroquois Ridge Residents Association (IRRA) and other detractors say that they don't want `those kind of people' in their community. The fact of the matter is, they are already there. There are hundreds of fam ilies one pay cheque away from being in great need and possibly homeless. And, if that day came to your children, would n't you want to know there was some where they could go to get help? Maybe it will take a `Mel Lastman moment' of a homeless person dying right around the comer from the Mayor's office for the `enlightened' IRRA and detractors to think of the integral part this project would play in the community rather than a potential financial impact that may not even occur, or maybe we will have to have our very own tent-city before we wake up and realize that the problem is real and needs to be dealt with. I just hope that groups like The Salvation Army will still be there when we wake up to reality and come to that point. Look in the mirror for gridlock solution The evidence is irrefutable. Global warming, environmental degradation, rampant materialism, and unchecked growth -- the four contemporary Horsemen of the Apocalypse -- pose a serious threat to the quality of life, if not survival itself. Smog and gridlock are merely symptomatic of our reckless disregard for nature, and the misguided belief humankind somehow operates independently from the rest of the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. An insatiable demand for consumer goods, a slavish dependency on automobiles, the belief salvation lies in tech nology, and the worship of money reflect a value system out of touch with reality. In this dreamlike state, perhaps, the Good Fairy will appear, wave her magic wand, and the smog and gridlock will disappear while we blithely carry on pursuing false gods. Then again, perhaps, she won't. The sooner we realize the Good Fairy is a figment of our imagination, as is the notion our elected representatives magi cally will make the problem go away, the better. Fact is, there are no magic solutions, and our politicians are not superhuman. Writing Bonnie Brown and Gary Carr demanding our fed eral and provincial governments take appropriate action is a total waste of time, if we remain committed to a self-destructive way of life. Bemoaning gridlock, while stuck in it daily, is like grabbing tax cuts, while condemning inferior health care and public education. The solution lies in making fundamental changes in how we live. It starts with adopting a set of core values predicated on genuine concern for others and the environment, builds in rec ognizing that people and nature are inextricably linked, and ends by undertaking specific actions that reflect our trans formed view of life. In other words, one can continue being part of the problem, or decide it's high time to become part of the solution. At which point, there'll be no need to write your elected representative, since the will of the people will be undeniable. MICHELLE GUNN PETER PELLIER We want your opinions and comments The Oakville 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 The Editor, Oakville 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. Town mishandled homeless shelter We would like to thank you for your part in questioning the town and region on our open letter on the homeless project on Lyons Lane. It was quite surprising to see that the report from the Region dated Dec. 15, 2001 was only submitted to the Town Council last Wednesday. The only reason for this report to show up was due to our correspondence with the Salvation Army, where they stated that their desired location was not available due to the Town rede velopment plans. Was the Town trying to hide this report? The only reason that our councillors toured the Wellington shelter in Brampton was because of the diligent work of some res idents of ward 6. They researched the locations of other homeless shelters, found where they were zoned, and what type of problems arose in theses centers. This led our councillors to start to do their homework and truly question the viability of such a mega project in a residential area. We think that the residents of Ward 6 deserve an apology from the Town for calling us NIMBY's. Perhaps the Town had a case of the NIMBY when the homeless shelter did not fit in to its rede velopment plans. If we look at the recent issues, such as the lands north of Hwy. 5, the smoking bylaw, and this homeless shelter, there are some serious questions on how our Town handles important issues. There appears to be a lack of public consultation, open communi cation and real leadership in this town. I hope that this is a wakeup call to our municipal government. N. GREGORY MCNALLY Pud AVAN JUSTDKVEUR . \ I' t By STEVE NEASE (F A COUPLE OF FRIENRS COULD COME OVER TO CELEBRATE h is m u 1C A /'/ iM D I C Pud asked DEFINE A COUPLE' birthday ANNA & HANS PAFFRATH