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A 6 - The Oakville Beaver, W ed ne sd ay, D e c e m b e r 3, 2003 TH E OAKVILLE HEAVER Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Assodition Canadian Community Newspapers Association EDITORIALS MD LETTERS IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OUVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief MARK DILLS Production Manager KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERT0LL1 Photography Director CHARLENE HALL Circulation Manager ROD JERRED Managing Editor W M m l L W T & in j Ud K U M A | n / P O if f r g N w j« < ( n w Aascn W j M O u v Champion. Mnon ShcppnQ Mbmb, i nm M . 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax; 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext 224 Grculation: 845-9742 B um gtor Posl. Burtngton Stoppng N M . CoMon EnHrtnse Oty P ira rt CoBnganorWAngi Comecflon. East W k Urror. Ertn A<tacaa»Ccu*ry RcuBas. EfctexM M S B X JrtA tW Free Prass. I M W IlM M. H /c r» Busnass f i r m U rdu? TTa Wm *. WjrVwn Ecoromat A S av I >trX Mrrw. OahvUe B w * . OafcwM * S ttw n g N m OkJdmen Hodwy Mawt. Onfci T^ay. 0*m rnm m *0anr<rai Port Pury Tha M * . Oapen S a r d T/tuw. Panantcn Oteervcr. F W t o o y i TlH Wtisr Coxfj GimJb H cfrond HR/TtoTMrVauqfNn ite m . S c irtia ra ^ U n c i a a i M M M m i h o a . % Um m a* d Guana* THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Haitun Healthcare ym c a |oakvHIt q«ll«rles | s b e t Fund sftSst (* C N A SK Suburban Newspapers at America TV AUCTION im u w , o fO M c I B BKt " "JK · &BB5 JMcm B y j fa a r i i, T o T h » 0 * v * * , t i i W r W ftttrtt » t « i i RIAL ItTATI B O A R D P I B L IC . K B C N W m rtC M r U B K s R 'l Charity begins at home December has snuck up on us - again -- and already the telltale signs of the holiday season are visible in neighbourhoods throughout Oakville. Displays of Christmas lights adorn rooftops and the surrounding property outside many homes. Mother Nature has provided us with a sneak preview of the winter won derland children will welcome with thoughts of tobogganing, creating snow angels and sculpting snowmen. Meanwhile, shopkeepers everywhere cross their fingers, hoping for a wave of holiday spending like none experienced in recent memory. And yet there's still a significant segment of Halton's population that feels no special excitement as the calendar flips over to the final month of the year. To them, Christmas is out of reach, a distant memory and, in some cases, a painful one. For reasons too often out of their control, many children in Halton find themselves devoid of the holiday cheer most of us take for granted. These innocent souls are among the homeless, impoverished, hungry, weak and victimized. And they need your help. In Halton, it takes very little effort to brighten the holiday of a child in need. Most social service agencies -- far too many to name in this space -- put forth an extra effort to help out at this time of year. They reach out to these youths in need with the offer of food, clothing, shelter and toys. Throughout the year the Halton Children's Aid Society works to protect young people in our region from abuse and neglect and provide surrogate parenting to nurture and rebuild shattered lives. The Children's Aid Foundation of Halton supports the HCAS at Christmas by promising a toy for every child under CAS care. Other organizations making children a priority at this time of year include Halton Women's Place. Salvation Army and the Miriam Child & Family Support Group for victims of AIDS/HIV. And as we noted earlier, Halton is fortunate to have numerous groups and organizations dedicated to the well being of families.Without their efforts and those who so generously donate, December would be just another month on the calendar for these kids. It's remarkably easy to help make this time of year special. When you are holiday shopping pick up an extra toy for a child or donate cash. Show these less-than-fortunate children that the spirit of Christmas is alive and well in Halton. ' > F. \N W K T", to W E U & M E w o rn i LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Incumbent mayor sent clear message: Control growth or you will be voted out 1 must publicly disagree with Mr. increase those charges to the fullest Scott's biased appraisal of the election extent possible by law (under section results for mayor. (Letter of the Week, 2(1) of the Development Charges Act, Oakville Beaver. Nov 26, written by Tom 1997). Scott). This w ill ensure that development The incumbent mayor has been given · w ill pay its own way, with no " tax dol a very clear message: " Control growth or lar" subsidies. This w ill slow growth you w ill be voted out of office by the because the developers w ill go to other challenger next time!" municipalities that want growth, and are The willpower required by the mayor willing to use their residents' taxes to and Town council w ill be demonstrated attract it. This is the " simple development con when the Town Of Oakville Development Charges Bylaw 1999-106 trol solution" that every municipality is re-examined this year. If our mayor has. It has always been there. Residents wishes to follow the message given by are insisting now. that it be used. the people; she w ill lead our council to JOHN S. KAY Kerr Street needs BIA, says business owner I am a very patient person, but I find it is about time that I have my say about the Kerr Street dilemma, which was mainly caused by Mr. Pollock's negative view of starting a B IA (The Beaver, Nov. 26). I have never seen anyone put so much energy into something negative as this person has done...what is he thinking about? I have been living and working in Oakville since 1962 and have seen many changes -- most for the better. One of these positive changes has been the influence of the down town B IA and then Bronte B IA -- without them Oakville would not have come as far as it has in keeping a beautiful downtown alive and well! Please do not insist that Kerr Street merchants are mostly dependent on Kerr Street resi dents -- believe me we could not have survived here for 17 years if this was so! As a business owner and landlord, I am very much for the B IA since I am positive that we need to spend a little to see a big improvement. Without improvement in the Kerr Street area we may see Kerr Street becoming a second Barton Street! Why are the merchants afraid to better their environ ment? I have puzzled over this issue for years. I have been active in the Kerr Street Community and have tried -- and am still trying - to improve the overall image because we have a big potential to become a successful, unique part of Oakville. Let us stay positive and, perhaps. Mr. Pollock w ill final ly see the light and join us in our effort to improve our neighbourhood. There should be nothing cheap about or on Kerr Street. In closing, I would like to say that us spending some money on additional taxes for the B IA is going to be the first time that I do not mind, since we are finally going to see something for our money! DENISE S. ERTSINIAN, ALBERT'S CARPET ONE Say no to police demands Re: `Cops want more money," Oah'ille Beaver. Nov 21. As a Halton Region taxpayer I find it offensive to be facing yet another annual stick-up by the regional police department for a massive increase in funding. The Halton Regional Police Services Board (H R P SB ) has irresponsibly approved an astounding 13.42-per cent increase to the current police budget. I trust this will get the total rejection it so richly deserves once . it reaches the political level. Unfortunately, given past perform- ; ances. the budget will be reduced but not close enough to the · level of fiscal prudence. These incremental increases follow a predictable pattern. The police chief claims violent crime is up, to instill some degree of apprehension in the general public. Claims will also be made the department is barely coping, is one of the best around, but must have still more resources to address new or unforeseen issues, or give more attention to ongoing problems. It appears no programs ever become redundant or get assigned a lower (less cosdy) priority. No chief worthy of the title ever comes out and says she/he does not require an increase in money for the upcoming year. This would not be in the nature of the police culture which is. of course, a bureaucratic institution. Budgets in the bureaucratic · view must simply be incrementally increased every year. To be · fair, the police are far from alone in this annual game. The fact is that police solve very little of most crime, partic ularly property crimes. The reasons for this are varied, and many are not within the control of any police agency. Nor are the police ever going to resolve the socio-economic underpin ning of most crime, no matter what anyone would have you · believe. Throwing ever increasing money into enforcement ` quickly meets the point of diminishing returns. I recently retired after nearly four decades as a police officer from one end of this country to the other. I have extensive expe- ; rience in police budgeting and I can state unequivocally - budg ets do not increase annually everywhere. They actually get | reduced on occasion. It is particularly disconcerting to me to read where the H RPSB would actually approve a budget increase of 13.42 per J cent. This seems to speak of an ingrained attitude of entitlement. ; This board and the Halton Regional Police Service appear to · think they exist in some surrealistic world where money and common sense has lost all meaning. If this is the best Mr. Jack . Brewer and his colleagues on the board have to offer the tax- i payers of Halton Region, they should step aside now. The H RPS is a fine department doing a difficult job and they J could always use more money. However, this is the nature of j policing. Halton Region is not crime ridden and likely never » will be. Again, the reasons for this are varied. Chief Algar is playing the budget game as expected, but this does not mean the taxpayers should have their pockets picked annually. It is not ; overly demanding to be a manager when you are on the receiv- j ing end of large annual budget increases. I have not the slightest doubt that there exist programs in the · H RPS that deserve to be eliminated or cut back. It seems the · only time this occurs is when the political stewards find enough i intestinal fortitude to say no to exorbitant budget demands. I do ] not blame the H RPS for playing the budget game all public ; service agencies follow. Nevertheless, let us not allow the · H RPS and their board to attribute a need for massive new fund- · ing to external factors and agencies. They can, and do. essen- '· tially control their own operations. There needs to be a better accounting for the effective and ; efficient use of the resources they already possess. The H RPSB, by approving an unconscionable budget increase of 13.42%, has abandoned its mandate to provide an I independent stewardship of the police service. They should all be replaced. I expect Halton Regional Council is going to be [ much more discerning in its analysis of this budget, competing needs of the region, and the source of their financing. Given the previous years' increases, I propose a zero per cent *. increase in the H RPS budget. GCKITTERINGHAM - A JADED HALTON TAXPAYER < Oakville residents should unite to fight development on Shell House lands As Oakville citizens we have to fight the proposal for the apartments to be built on the old Shell House lands. It's the one remaining lakefront prop erty left in Oakville. It's a beautiful area. It should not have four, 20-storey apart ment buildings built on it. Consider the consequences, 1,000 apartment units, average two people, two cars per household. A ll this on a 10-acre property! Imagine the added traffic congestion on Lakeshore Road, already congested at rush hour. To top it all off. four tall build ings do not belong in a single-home res idential area. I 'm sure the average Oakville resident would rather see nice homes built, instead of these apartments. The only people to benefit from this con struction are the builders themselves. They claim there is a large need for condo buildings, funny then, that the vacancy rate in condos is so high! Drive up and down the road on Lakeshore, and see all the For Sale and Vacancy signs. We all know that eventually the land will be built on, but surely we can have a say as to what goes in there. It doesn't matter if you live around the area or not, it's your Oakville, have a say in what is being built. Write to the Town and call your local councillor, do something -- we still have time. The application is far from approved. Don't just sit on your hands and let the bulldozers move in on the old Shell lands. If the truth be told, I would love to see a seniors' residence built on those lands, something we desperately need in the community. BELINDA WACG We welcome your letters Got a beef? Have an opinion you wish to share? Something on your mind? The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal consider ations 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@oakviUebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish any letter. The Oakville Beaver is i member of the Ontario Pres Council. The council Is looted at 80 Could St. Suite 206, Toronto. Ont.. M58 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, win not be charged for. but the balance of the attortisement wHI be paid tar at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Pud WE OPEN t\ LITTLE ^ 1 DOOR fbR EACH DAY IN DECEMBER UNTILTHE DAYIS CHRISTMAS/ By STEVE NEASE W H A T A R E YO U D 0 IN & ? OFEfM&AlX THESE DOCR&So CHRISTMAS IS, TOM ORROW /