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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday March 21., 2001 T he Oakville Beaver Ian Oliver Publisher Nei Oliver AssociatePublisher Norman Alexander Editor Kdly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crazier Circulation Director Ten Casas OfficeManager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero VertoJIi DirectorofPhotography Meboland Printing. Pubfcrtng & Distributing Ltd., ndudes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, AJtston Herald/Courier. Arthur Enterprise News. Barrie Advance. Barry's Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise, Brampton GuanSan. B urlington P ost, B u rlin g to n S h opping N ew s. C ity Parent, Coflngwood/Wasaga Connection. East Mark Minor. Erin AdvocatevCountry Routes. E tobicoke G uardian. F lam borough Post. G eorgetow n Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Hurcna Business Times. Kingston This Week. Undsay This Week. Markham Ecnomist & Sun. M idland/Penetangulshine Mirror. M ilton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News. Mississauga Business Times. Mississauga Navs, Napanee Guide. Newmarket/Aurora Era-Bamer, Northumberland News, North Mark Minor. Qakvie Bearer. Oakv«e Shopping News, Oldbmers Hockey News. CHSa Today, Oshava/Wrttby/Clanngton Port Peny This Week. Owen S oind Tribune, Palmerston Observer. Peterborough This Week, Rcton County Guide. Richm ond Hilt/Thomhill/Vaughan Liberal. Scarborough Mirror. SteuflviertJxbridge Tribtne. Forever Mxrtg, Oty of Mark Gua/rian OPINION RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community New spapers Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: YMCA x S t r a t e g i e sf o rPJKB r-1 -- r» -i ' * Q flW M S fl! ........... JirsqlE BeII FuNd JTtilum 0 (th e 0 kJTkvard Q )ak)'ille ^ fw a r d s tu 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont L6K3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 f*C N A Canadian Community New spapers Association A|7pTmu TV AUCTION U nited W ay of O akville T HE IONTE B U T T E R F L Y fn i -town O f OAK VILLI d | oakville g alleries ONTARI O SK Suburban New spapers ol America | C h ild re n 's C h o ir nm K rte w a * /TKUB U S IN E S S K T h E M T T S Editorials W h e r e w ill t h e p o w e r g o ? Will southern Ontario become a dumping ground for power generating sta tions shipping electricity south to the United States? We're really starting to wonder. W hile Sithe E nergies says it w ants to build tw o $500-m illion 800megawatt, gas fired power plants -- in Mississauga and Brampton -- to meet the demands of a growing southern Ontario market, we wonder if their real target market is south of the border. With our weaker dollar and cheaper labour force, the costs of building a massive power generating plant are probably less than building one in the United States. Add on Ontario's open for business attitude -- complete with softer envi ronmental regulations -- and we suddenly become an attractive site for American-based power producers. Sithe's proposed gas-powered generator in Mississauga apparently does not meet the same low emissions standards as the company's existing plants in Massachusetts and Washington. Despite repeated requests by town councillors at Monday nights Planning and Development Committee meeting, a company representative would not guarantee the Mississauga plant would be built to same standards. When Ontario's electricity business is deregulated in 2003 there is nothing forcing a plant in Mississauga to sell its power within Ontario. While the Sithe plant could be selling power to consumers in the Greater Toronto Area, it could also conceivably be selling power as far south of the border as North Carolina. While Ontario's demand for power will be growing in the future, so will the demand for power from the U.S. Putting up with increased noise and air pollution to ensure southern Ontario has an adequate supply of electrical power is one thing; putting up with pollu tion problems so Sithe can reduce its overhead for supplying power south of the border, is a completely different ballgame. Do we have any assurances, the Sithe power generators are being built for Ontario consumers? Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Board chair responds Letter of the Week Province should pay for criminal background checks Please allow me to respond to an article regarding crim inal checks for school staff, which was recently published in your news paper. During an interview with a reporter, I did. make the statem ent that if criminal checks protect one child from abuse, then it is a useful exercise, and I stand by that com ment. I would like to clarify that I do not sup port retroactive criminal checks in the man ner ih which this governm ent has decreed. Ms Ecker states that this initiative is about helping boards provide more secure learn ing environments. Hogwash! S chools being p ublic b u ild in g s, open th eir doors to m any - parents, w orkm en. delivery men, mail carriers, adult learners and volunteers, to name a few. Will anyone who walks through a school door require a criminal check? I think not. B o ard s have S afe S ch o o l p o lic ie s in p la c e an d iro n ic a lly , i t 's o u r " s u s p e c t" school staff who diligently implement those policies to ensure the safety o f our students. It is my p e rs o n a l o p in io n th a t th e G overn m ent o f O ntario has relentlessly, te n a c io u s ly an d r u th le s s ly w ag e d w ar against the teachers o f this province, and the notion o f criminal checks is just one more part o f the game plan to devalue and dis credit and demoralize the profession and to undermine public education. C rim inal checks ju s t may protect one child and that makes them valid. However, to ask a teacher or any other staff member to pay for the privilege of a criminal check simply adds injury to insult. When the gov e rn m e n t m a n d a te s re tro a c tiv e c rim in a l checks, I would suggest it's the responsibili ty of government to provide funds to school boards to ensure compliance. Finally, if the G overnm ent o f O ntario tru ly c a re s a b o u t the s tu d e n ts o f th is province, perhaps it should start to recognize the excellence in our schools, rather than creating and perpetuating the myth that we have incompetent, unworthy people working with our children. This is simply not true. Ethel Gardiner Halton District School Board Chair Time for cat by-law Ed. Note: The following letter was sent to Oakville Mayor Ann Mulvale -- a copy was also filed with The Oakville Beaver for publication. When 1 moved my family and pet dog to Oakville 35 years ago, there were no town By-laws to control dog behav iour. Many thoughtless dog owners let their dogs run loose. Some even put their dogs outside when they went to work in the morning and left them out all day. These animals did what unsupervised dogs do and became known as the "Neighbourhood Tramps." Dog owners started to become more responsible after 1977, when the Town of Oakville enacted a By-law to prohib it the running at large of dogs. By-laws covering such issues such as licensing, leashing, picking up waste, biting, and the number gf dogs allowed per household followed. With the enactment of these By-laws and the fines that went with them, Oakville dog owners were finally told that they must be responsible for the behaviour of their pet dogs; that it is unac ceptable to permit them to be a nuisance to other people with in the community. While the Town has not less than 21 pages of By-laws devoted to dog behaviour, it has none for cats. Why has the Town of Oakville failed to address the problems caused by thoughtless, irresponsible cat owners which may be even more serious? While some cat owners do act responsibly by keeping their animals indoors, too many do not. These cat owners suggest that it is their right to allow their cats to uri nate and defecate over neighbourhoiod property and to roam the town wood lots killing birds and small animals because there is no By-law making it illegal. They appear unconcerned about the impact their actions are having on their neighbours and the environment around them. The Winter 2001 edition of the Muskokan published in Bracebridge. Ontario, has anarticie about the impact domestic cats have on our natural environment. It says that domestic cats should be kept inside because of the effect they have on wildlife. Study after study has found that domestic cats which go outside kill significant numbers of birds and small animals each year. A conservative estimate is that nearly 300 million birds are killed in North America by domestic cats every year. Worldwide, domestic cats have driven dozens -- maybe hun dreds -- of species to extinction. Scientists also say that pet cats are second only to habitat loss in terms of their impact on biodiversity. The American Bird Conservancy has launched a Cats Indoor Campaign, which stresses that keeping them inside is not only better for wildlife but it protects cats from diseases and harm from various outside dangers. The article quotes nature writer and television producer, Tom Hince, who said, "It's time to limit cats' ability to roam. They are wonder ful pets and companions, but they are also beautiful hunters that are very good at what they do. You have to recognize that if you let your cats out of your sight and out of your house, they're going to kill wildlife." My wife and I witnessed just such a kill in a town woodlot one recent afternoon. Our neighbouring city, Burlington, has an Animal Control By-law which recognizes that domestic cats as well as dogs need to be controlled. They tell cat owners as well as dog owners to be responsible citizens by requiring them to keep their cats on their own property or on a leash. Also, cats must be implanted with a microchip for identification purposes. If Burlington has recognized the need for such action and has taken it. why hasn't Oakville? Mayor Mulvale, it is time for you and Town Council to do the right thing and enact a Town By-law which requires own ers of domestic cats to control their behaviour. You have an obligation to protect public and private property and the wildlife trying to live in Oakville's parks and wood lots. James Mills Grade 7-8 students belong in high schools We found the Article "Grade 7-8 students don't belong in high schools" as presented to the H alton D istric t School B oard by the President of the Halton Elementary Teachers union very interesting. However, it is quite obvious that Kathy Clarke did not take the time to visit Q E Park Secondary School prior to her presentation, or developing her opinion.. If you ask the Q E Park students what they most like about their school, at the top of the list will be the seven to grade model. They are ready to enter an environment, which is more interesting and challenging than the elemen tary enviro n m en t at grade seven. B etter resources are available to them, and they have more in common with secondary than elemen tary students. As parents, we too might have imagined "teen pregnancy, and substance abuse" when our students entered the seven to grad model, but it was just that, a fear of something that we were not familiar with, with no basis. Instead we witnessed individual growth that would not have happened to the same extent if they were in an elementary model. They are ready to stretch themselves past nurturing at that stage. The worst times to change schools is at the height of puberty, grade nine. If they enter the secondary environment at grade seven, their surroundings are consistent through this diffi cult time in their lives. At Q E Park, the 7 & 8s benefit from peer tu to rin g , w here an o ld er stu d en t w ill be assigned to help with a problem subject. It has been noted by school administration that the school runs best when all grades are present. The senior students feel the responsibility of being role m odels, and the 7 & 8s do not develop the arrogant, I'm the biggest on the block attitude. The elem entary to grade 8 m odel was developed at the time Ontario was predomi nately agricultural. The majority of students completed school at grade eight. Perhaps Kathy C larke, rather than fear mongering and resisting change should look at what is best for today's student. Karen Bonham Q E P ark School Council v » i B ald-headed women raised $25,000 On behalf of the Oakville Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Kim Plunkett, the Beautiful You Salon and the 14 incredible women who shaved their heads on Feb. 25th to raise funds for Cancer research. Thanks to the generosity of Oakville citizens the total amount raised was $25,000, which has been designated to pediatric cancer research. A special thanks to Skye, the little angel that inspired this event. Skye's courage, kindness and bravery have made her an inspiration to all of us. To all of those who pledged dollars in support of this event you have truly taken a step in helping us to make cancer history! Thank you! Kellie Kay Joan Gibb Unit Manager Communications Volunteer Oakville Unit Oakville Unit Canadian Cancer Society Canadian Cancer Society Pud by Steve Nease