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A6 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday, October 2, 2002 ED ITO R IA LS AND LE TTE R S THE (IAKVILLE HEAVER 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 337-5610 Circulation: 845-9742 IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager JILL OAVIS Editor in Chief Circulation Director MARK DILLS KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLU STEVE CROZIER Production Manager Photography Director ROD JERRED 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 Ftoutes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Post. Georgetown , independent/Acton Free Press.' 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City of York Guardian THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association f~Myr a A Canadian Community Newspapers Association YMCA O F O A X V T i E Sam ®! | oakville galleries | The Oakville, Milton and District Jin g e B e n F u n d T O m ss Ir itfv U ttf c SK JAtkem J^ward Suburban Newspapers of America 0 'T/he @ (Qah'itk nmtk FOR BUSINESS EXCELLENCE C M ftfin d Boycott the boycott You've got to feel sorry for the folks at Home Depot who have had their name dragged through the mud thanks to the former "residents" of Toronto's Tent City. The home improvement giant has been taking it on the chin for evicting squatters on a site located near Lake Shore Blvd. East and Cherry Street in Toronto. It seems to have slipped the minds of protesters that the land actually belongs to Home Depot and not them. Also, the company is not single-handedly responsible for the province's homeless. Members of the Toronto Disaster R elief Committee are publicly demanding the corporation help pay for permanent housing for the squat ters who were turfed. And if the money doesn't flow, then the committee might just call for a national boycott of Home Depot. What nerve! Perhaps the com m ittee isn 't aware of Home Depot's commit ment to helping lower-income fami lies realize their dream of home ownership. Through partnerships with Habitat for Humanity, Home Depot has worked with more than 100 Habitat affiliates across North America. W hether it's a donation of materials, physically lending a hand or in-kind contributions, this compa ny has consistently demonstrated its genuine desire to improving the communities in which it does busi ness. Not every company can say that. Perhaps, it's Home Depot's sensi ble, "do-it-yourself' approach to projects that has some of the protest ers uneasy. The retailer offers a hand up, not a hand out. Teaching practical skills is worth far more than simply giving out dollars. Home Depot is also involved in other community-based projects and non-profit organizations. It is a responsible corporate citizen known for helping its neighbours. Yes, there is an affordable hous ing crisis, not only in Toronto, but also here in Halton. The desperate need for emergency and transitional housing and rentgeared to income units is the respon sibility of each level o f government. Home Depot is already doing its share to better the lives of the less fortunate. It should be applauded for all that it has accomplished and not looked upon as an unfeeling corpo rate giant. L E T T E R ST OT H EE D IT O R Homeless under attack Why should we ruin Oakville? Contrary to the assertions from some (see letter to the editor Sept. 2 5 ) the shelter meeting held at the Region was not populated by Toronto housing activists. It was filled with citizens of Oakville who are concerned about the issue from both sides. Some for, and some against. Some did say that they worked in Toronto, but live in Oakville. That being said, I was not taken off guard and at .the same time aghast by the comments of some. Suggestions made generally revolved around not concern for the homeless, but in setting crite ria designed to ensure that the shelter does not end up in their neighbourhoods. From the mis guided assumptions that all poor are criminals and need to be stopped and segregated from society to the lounge act like floor show put on by the `gentleman in the hat,' the meeting was more about citizens covering their own butts then it was about concern for the less fortunate. It was nice to hear applause when some made impassioned pleas on behalf of the homeless to see past their problem of being without a home and realize that they are real people with the same rights and expectations as any of those in the room. It was heartbreaking to hear the anti-poor comments of some others. One man suggested that the facility should be close to services that the clients would need to use, but not near to com munity centres, public pools, are nas, schools, daycares, the hospi tal, playgrounds, residential areas or libraries. Essentially, not in Oakville or at least no where near him and his family. This is the kind of enlightened thinking that causes problems like the homeless crisis to begin with. Let's not kid ourselves here folks. The residents of such a facility will move into the com munity and be among us. The will walk by our kids on the way to school, they will look for jobs on the internet at the library and (God forbid) may even become your neighbours. It is clear there was little care in that room for anyone but them selves. Very few comments were made that supported the need and advanced the cause of the less fortunate of our community. The community should feel much shame for the way they think about and treat those in need. Some of the politicians came to the defence of the residents saying that it was unfair to paint all citizens with the same wide brush, to label Oakville as snobtown and the citizens of Oakville as uncaring. But, shame on them. They came to the defence of those making the com ments, but what about those they attacked. No one stood up for the poor. The regional chair did not defend the cause of the impover ished. Through the course of the meeting, the poor were either directly labeled or implied to be many things. They are pedophiles, dangerous, thieves, rapists, con artists, muggers, fraudulent, lazy...and the list went on. Yet, little was said, and none by the politicians, about how untrue those labels are or to defend their cause. It is said that in North America 10 per cent of the people have 90 per cent of the wealth and it seems to be so here in Oakville. Even more sad, the fact that those 10 per cent are the only ones the politicians seem to care about. Should the Town feel shame?...yes! MICHELLE GUNN There is a reason that so many people put up with an hour of traffic everyday (twice) to commute to the city and back. My reason is the same as most others. I did not think that Toronto was a good place to raise a young family anymore due to the crime, drugs and general decay of a once great place. Will people be saying the same about Oakville in 20 years? One only has to look at the worst areas of Toronto to see that they are the areas with high density, rentals and subsi dized housing. Now it seems that some would like to bring that here to Oakville. If you look at most people who cannot support themselves (excluding seniors, handicapped etc.) it is generally due to their own life's decisions such as drug and alcohol abuse, low work ethic, not using birth control etc. There are the excep tions of course, but if you have ever been to places like the Seaton house in Toronto, I find that most of the career homeless tend to be substance abusers, who quite often are violent. I have worked very hard in life to afford to live in an area (Oakville) that I think is a safe place to raise a family and although it may sound cold hearted, I think that I deserve this after making sacrifices in life along with putting in an honest days work day after day for 18 years so far. People in this great country have more opportunity to be successful than anywhere in the world, so when I see those who still cannot make it on their own, I must ask those people to look at themselves first before demanding more handouts. I sincerely hope that people truly consider the grave negative impact that a homeless shelter will have on the families in the area of its final destination. Some may think that they are helping those that they con sider less fortunate, but in the same motion they will be essentially pulling the rug out from underneath the homeowners of this (presently) nice place we call Oakville. STEVE PELLY Lament for the loss of a neighbourhood park For 14 years I have inhabited the Golden Meadow neigh bourhood of northeast Oakville. Located between Riveroaks and what is now called Iroquois Ridge, the neighbourhood is located on Morrison Creek Ravine between Trafalgar and Eighth Line just south of Upper Middle Road. Some of us even refer to the neighbourhood as the "Golden Ghetto." In the time I have lived on the block many people have moved in and some have moved out. Many children grew up playing street hockey on the relatively quiet streets, and enjoyed ravine games in the forest. As people age, so does the neighbourhood, yet the next batch of kids always arrive and partake in similar activities. Regardless of what shape the block took the Golden Meadow Park was always central to the community and the look of the neighbourhood. This week to my astonishment, I drove by the mass of land located smack dab in the middle of our neighbourhood and was shocked to see no park. Just the existing sand and two benches remained. I felt as if a part of my existence had left with the uprooting of the park. This was a park that meant so much to so many people. Nearly everyone on the street has a story about a first kiss, a first fight, a first cigarette, a baseball game, hide and go seek, or my personal feeling of flying and being among the stars on those old swings unique to that park. While the park was by no stretch of the imagi nation fancy it had character... if you will the character of its street and its residents. I've been told the town has decided to put in one of those new super-duper parks with bright colors and all the latest park gadgets. While a part of me does not like this change, another part of me accepts this inevitable part of life. Regardless, I hope the next generation of kids gets to enjoy the new park as much as my friends and I did with the old one. Who knows, maybe in 14 years if the town decides to replace that one with a new structure there will be even more like me with memories of triumph, tragedy, accomplishment, and belonging central to one unique and special park. SEAN HARRAHER The case for genetically modified This letter is in response to the Sept. 26 article Scientist says geneti cally modified foods are environment friendly. I am in agreement with this arti cle. I think that by using genetically modified foods we can make a huge dent in the effort to save the environ ment. Using science to genetically alter crops and other food could potentially have very good environ mental and economical effects. As said in the article, time and money are being saved by not having to spray crops with fertilizers and by having new techniques for seeding. According to Dr. Doug Powell, the new seeding techniques have meant that top soil (of which there is already a shortage) will not be wast ed and that farmers in the prairies have saved a remarkable 32 million litres of diesel fuel which was not turned into exhaust and put into the air. Because genetically modified food can resist insects much better, the amount of pesticides used is greatly reduced. This helps the envi ronment because we are not dumping chemicals on the crops and into the soil. I would personally rather eat food that has been genetically modified than food that has been sprayed with a thousand different poisonous chemicals. As long as scientists keep work ing to produce safe food I don't think that there is any reason to not eat or buy these products. NICK OPPER Action needed to save environment Denial is a common response to bad news, whether death or environmental degradation. As reality sets in, denial gives way to acceptance. There can be no denying the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat, is deteriorating. What is more, everyone is affected. No one escapes the rav ages of a polluted biosphere, for the simple reason humankind is intimately linked to the natural world. Clearly, neither denial nor despair ameliorate the situa tion. Both are negative responses going nowhere. What is needed is a raising of consciousness -- an awareness the problem, though pervasive, is well within our reach to resolve. With acceptance comes the will and determination to wrestle the current environmental morass to the ground. This begins with the realization we are stewards of the Earth and not its master. Reductions in household waste, use of private automo biles and the demand for electricity represent an excellent first step. Electing environmentally-committed representa tives locally, provincially and federally, while supporting sustainable growth, urban infrastructure sensitive to environ mental needs and fully-funded government agencies to mon itor air, water and soil quality is only a voice and vote away. If each of us contributes in our own way, both in how we live and at the ballot box, the legacy we hand our children will be far greater in value than any material enrichment. The choice is ours. Do nothing and lament for our children, or undertake action and ensure they've got a fighting chance. PETER D. PELLIER Pud I G o T l "So O U T SID EA N D By STEVE NEASE Home- ustem cm m x I a TIM ESU P . Y ou C A NXH A V E aco o k ie?yi M YTUM M Y. w ork, D ow n ^ f \ | WHAT YOU HEARD." >