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A 6 - I he Oakville Beaver, W ednesday, N o vem b er 12, 2003 EDITORIALS AND LETTERS THE OAKVILLE ItEHEE 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (90 5 ) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 8 4 5-3824. ext. 2 2 4 Circulation: 845-9742 IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Mtuuiger JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director CHARLENE HALL Cin ultition Manager MARK DILLS Production Mtuuiger RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photographs Director ROD IERRED MiOkltjbltj Editor Mrtuand PtMinnj & OMrfcuflrg lid rcule; M n tn (v s H O m w AtTu C tn rp tr VVflcr 9xcccxj N n r *.te Erttrpnte ***o Bam* Wkme*. Brarcton G uanJan F'tnsnif Of) Parw* CoflrcMXtLW .1r.1491 CtinKSon. tx i W M r j (n r h U r j a h 'j t j t r , % u n ( U n t o Quartan, ·arrfionwyi Rrnwn, 0*org*town f*w>xvrt ^«rn L;> ftrrm tarTurtvvtand *<cv f*nrp "tVU rt» 0»v** B a a w e rO a tn M * '^cw ng N nn O fc* rn n K x Ju rr O n J M > 0 0 » » . (f c rim a lM tC y U im ^ C r f\»? Pwt· » T t » Ww*. 0 won S a n ) ' t u » PW m ntoi QCMWvr · ' d n U i ^ Th» NMi ` V t n C o i f ) R t / r u i j * 4 T fa rM V iu jla n t x »* Scuticnu/i U n Tttoun* ff*» Pnw tumstn <«tv* Kjtna Btnrcss Tim a I nssrr t*«s .V r* tc tm ne t A Sc* M d a n iO ( M r 9 jB m Wtan C m d in > w w r u v Off d U rt tk jr te r THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized fo r Excellence by |-- | Ontano Community Newspapers Association i Halton Healthcare Jtttge Bcff Fund *m v + n?T**m iM v <2 na Canadian Community Newspapers Association ° a,kY , llle Q` ?J. Urn, yh n m i O I'1 " © n r .« » t. . o . . o ( h i k i 'i l l t w 7 //V ///J * SK* Suburban Newspapers at America * °rn P j y a u c tio n W 8 l5 i» *$ S » C & lB *X i o ^ Uu dOEfc Message delivered i Twelve votes, k ' Welcome to Florida north. Twelve votes. You can field one side o f a CFL football team w ith 12 people and. coincidentally, you can sit 12 councillors around the O akville council table. W hen it com es to elections, it doesn't get m uch closer than the 12 votes which separated incum bent M ayor Ann M ulvale from challenger Rob Burton. Twelve votes, that's not even one side o f the street in many neighbourhoods. Twelve votes is the unofficial tally. We may not know final results until Thursday. If the numbers hold up. M ulvale and the rest o f council have been served with a def inite wake up call. Even though she squeaked in w ith one o f (he narrow est margins o f victory in the history of O ntario m unicipal elections, the people have spoken loud and clear - they are tired o f grow th and the appearance -- rightly or w rongly -- that developers have been calling the shots at O akville Tow n C ouncil. Voters no longer w ant to be ju st heard at Tow n C ouncil, they w ant their elected representatives to listen to them . Twelve votes. O nly her reputation -- w hich took a hard hit by the aggressive campaign o f Burton -- saved her from defeat. In her cam paign. M ulvale prom ised a new deal for the people o f O akville by working with the new Liberal regim es at Q ueen's Park and O ttaw a to rein in the urban spraw l fueled by the developm ent-friendly M ike H arris' and Ernie E ves' Ontario Provincial governm ents. She had better deliver on that prom ise and she had better deliver quickly. Throughout his cam paign. Burton painted M ulvale as a friend o f the developers accusing her o f accepting cam paign contributions from m em bers o f the develop ment industry. Now, if her unofficial vote tally holds up. M ulvale will have three years to prove her critics wrong. The council that M ulvale will lead for the next three years is not likely to be d escrib ed 'as pro-developm ent. Joining the environm entally-friendly Allan Elgar (Ward 4 Regional ) around the council table are (wo O akvillegreen directors Renee Sandelow sky (W ard 4 Local) and M ichael Lansdow n (W ard 1 Regional), along with form er G reen Party candidate Tom A dam s (Ward 6 Local). They will be join ed by new com ers Cathy Duddeck (Ward 2 Local), Chris Stoate (Ward 3 L ocal), M arc G ram (W ard 5 Local). Rounding out the table are returnees Fred O liver (W ard 2 Regional). Jeff Knoll (Ward 5 R egional) and Janice W right, w ho successfully m oved up from the local to Regional seat in Ward 6. * T ogether they have been given a clear m essage by the voters to curb urban sprawl and develop a sustainable controlled grow th in O akville. W hile many o f them have been opponents in the past, hopefully, in the future, they can w ork together for the good o f the com m unity. iT r i 1 r e in rr rri `Let's hope our judgment is ultimately defensible' This may be a late com m ent on the referendum concern ing the use o f pesticides on private property. It was surpris ing to see four letters filling your editorial page o f the Beaver's Nov. 6 issue whose authors were all in favour o f introducing a municipal bylaw, in effect a `Yes' vote to the referendum question, banning the use of pesticides by pri vate property ow ners on their ow n land because o f a harm ful effect on human health. To concerned citizens like m yself this seems to put the 'Yes' voters on a collision course with the presumably wellinform ed regulators at the federal level who have declared that the herbicides and insecticides in question are safe when used properly. This is the position o f the 'N o ' voters. Stripped o f all its rhetoric the matter hinges around the fundamental question: Are these herbicides and insecticides, either or both, harmful to the health o f Oakville people when used in a manner approved by the regulatory authorities? The 'Yes' people say ail these pesticides are indeed harmful to health, even when recom m ended safety procedures are followed, and therefore should be banned. It would be help ful if some solid indisputable evidence that support this belief were tabled w ith the general health dam age claims. It's not sufficient, for instance, to say these pesticides may cause cancer at some future time if the cause-effect relation ship is vague and hypothetical. We all know the word "can cer" introduces an emotional fear factor into one's judgm ent emphasizing the need for respected peer-reviewed data. The 'N o ' people are persuaded by informed opinion at the federal level in the departments o f health and agriculture that designated herbicides and pesticides cause no significant harm to human health when applied according to safe prac tices. The federal government in this area presumably has a clear cut responsibility to protect human health and one assumes that extensive consultation has occurred, and con tinues to occur with knowledgeable scientific personnel with appropriate expertise. If the 'Y es' people find fault with these determinations they could well accuse the federal regulators o f allowing harm to hum an health instead o f protecting it. Such an accusation might be uncom fortable to both accuser and accused. It's unfortunate that good debate based on good science could not have preceded, or perhaps replaced, a public refer endum where ordinary weakly-informed citizens like myself are asked to decide whether all pesticides appropriately used on private property are. in balance, helpful or harmful to our community. Let's hope our collective judgment is ultimately defensi ble. R ON HALL LETTER (IF THE IVEEk Speeding drivers a critical issue One o f the first duties facing the new strophic. particularly when pedestrians Town council is the need to effectively *and cyclists are struck. Much suffering address speeding. It has become a m ajor ensues. Often times, death. Sadly, many social problem, no less serious than drunk victims are our own children. All because driving. someone was in a hurry. What more proof is needed than our Provincial legislation permits munici own daily observations, reinforced by the palities to lower speed limits on local antics o f those portrayed in the Heaver. roads. Given the outright refusal o f a Oct. 29: Speeding motorists seem to be growing legion o f drivers to obey current missing the message o f traffic enforce limits, it's high time they were lowered. ment. The recklessness o f such conduct A 40 kmh maximum should be imple renders one speechless: m others, with m ented in residential areas throughout children onboard, speeding through (he town, in conjunction with a massive school zones; motorists ticketed repeatcam paign aimed at educating motorists o f ily on the same street: drivers operating the perils associated with speeding. Can [ at excessive speeds. Collisions involving we afford not to take action? ^speeding vehicles are potentially cataPETER D . PELLIER Commissioner responds to content of advertisement A recent advertisement (Oct. 31) in this newspaper made reference to Halton Region's plan to move to an 'alternative service delivery' approach at Allendale. Halton Region's long term care facility in Milton, whereby the Region will arrange for an external provider to deliver hairdressing and specialized foot care serv ices. W hile the advertisement suggests that this decision may somehow com prom ise resident care, we strongly disagree. Our first priority is always to work as hard as possible and provide quality care and service to our residents and their families. We set high standards and are well know n and highly respected throughout the community and by many other agencies serving seniors. We strive daily to maintain those standards while also meeting the obligation we have to those same families. Council and the taxpayers o f Halton to ensure that we have regard for our fiscal responsibility. In that vein, a recent services review identified specialized fool care and hairdressing as two serv ices that may be more appropriately provided by an external provider rather than by Regional staff as is presently the case. This is the approach taken with respect to these same services in many other long term care facilities. This change will take effect in the new year. The provided s) vv ill be required to meet strict criteria set out by the Region, and our staff will closely monitor the services to ensure that quali ty is maintained. The next step in the review o f services will involve explor ing the potential for alternative service delivery (ASD lo r con tracted services, in each o f the areas o f housekeeping, laundry and maintenance serv ices. This is an option in the exploratory stages only, and no decision about the best approach to deliv ering one or all o f these services has yet been made. A recom mendation to Regional Council w ill be based on the results of this investigation and will be com ing forward within four to six months. For many years. Regional Council has supported a publiclyrun and funded long-term care system in Halton Region. Halton Region is currently building two new facilities in O akville and Burlington respectively, and plans are being made to bring those two facilities on board at the end o f next year as publicly-funded, operated, and managed long-term care cen tres. Plans for staff recruitment and transition are under way. Any future or possible decisions regarding ASD will not change the significant number of health care aides, nursing, therapy, dietary, recreation and other start' that are being hired for these new facilities. Staff affected by the change to foot care and hairdressing services will be entitled to provisions under their collective agreement and Employm ent Standards Act. which may entitle tfiem to move to another position within the organization. There may also be some future opportunities for employment at the two new long-term care facilities being built by the Region. Halton Region is committed to assisting displaced staff adapt and enhance their skills to help them qualify for other positions in the Region's long-term care facilities. We have been in touch with the families o f our residents at Allendale to discuss this initiative, and will continue to be available to answer their questions, Halton Region is proud that Allendale provides exemplary care to our residents, while operating in a m anner that is effi cient and respectful o f the contributions o f regional taxpayers. A D E L IN A U R B A N S K I C O M M IS S IO N E R . SO C IA L & C O M M U N IT Y SERVICES R EG IO N A L M U N IC IP A L IT Y O F HALTON rhe Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council The cound is looted at 80 Gould 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 adver tising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance tor signature, will not be charged for. but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. Tlie publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or dedlne. Visiting author should have stayed home . In the Oakville Beaver Oct. 31 edition there is an article with the title Visiting author shocked by bland Oakville. There is no doubt that John Bentley Mays is a very talented w riter and that his way of writing can even inebriate us. What does not persuade m e and does not satisfy my ears is that somebody was called in to observe and judge Oakville and its people. It remains uncertain in my mind that this was a beautiful idea, therefore I do not w ant to be indebted to the O akville Galleries for something that I do not con sider a proven fact. G IU S EP PE FAVA Candidate says thanks for the support I am writing to thank all those who supported my election cam paign for the position o f Town and R egional C ouncillor for Ward 2. It has been a privilege to participate in the election w ith my fellow candidates, and I very m uch appreciate the support and best w ishes o f so many people in Ward 2. I w ould also like to congratulate Fred O liver on his successful re-elec tion to council. D A V ID D E B E LLE t GotI a ijte f.' ? Have an opinion you wish to share? Something on your m ind? The i : er t welcomes letters from its readers. ! be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and gram m ar. In Leti( A i l ill o rder t< t( iT O D published, ill letters m ast contain the name, address and phone num ber of the author, le tte rs should Ik - 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. U jH Oakville By STEVE NEASE \ttfJ You'Re gcWered You DIDN'T MESS up' R 7 1 Found a 1 THE PILE IT TOOK 5 ? even bigger Pil e d o w n ME AU- M0RNIN& i ID RRKE, PIP YOU? kJ. THESHEET' N n -1 n K M , j ~ iL NO DAD 3 D I A u j 2 'J ~ \O i- &