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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, May 9, 2001 T h e Oa k v il l e B e a v e r Ian Oliver Publisher N ei d i v e r Associate Publisher N orm an A lexander Editor Kelly M o n tag u e, Advertising Director S tev e C ra z ie r Circulation Director Ten C a s a s Office Manager M ark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director o f Photography M e tro la n dP rin tin g .P u b lish in g& D istrib u tin gL td .. io d u d es: A ja x /P ic k e rin g N ew sA d v e rtise r, A llisto nH erald /C o u rier, A rth u rE n terp riseN ew s. B a rrie A d v an ce. B arry ' sB ayT h isW eek .B o lto nE n terp rise, B ram p to nG u an Jan , B urlington Post. B urlington Shopping N ew s. C ity Parent. C o ttn g w o o d /W asag aC o n n ec tio n .E ast 'itx kM irro r, E rinA d v o cala'C o u n try R outes. E tobicoke G uardian. F lam borough Post. G eorgetow n In d ep en d en t/A cto nF reeP ress, H a rristo nR e v ie w ,H u ro n iaB u sin essT im e s. K in g sto nT h isW eek ,L in d sayT h isW eek .M ark h amE co n o m ist & S u n . M idland/P enetanguishine M irro r, M ilto nC anadian C ham pion, M ilto n S h o p p in gN ew s. M ississau g aB u sin essT m es, M ississau g aN ew s. N ap an ee G u id e .N ew m ark et/A u ro raE ra -B a n n e r. N o rth u m b erlan dN ew s, N o rth\brk M in o r, O a k v illeB e a v e r. O a k v illeS h o p p in gN ew s. O td tim e rsH o c k eyN e w s. O riiaT o d a y ,O sh a w a M /h itb y /C la rin g to nP o rt P e rryT h isW e ek .O w enS o u n d T rib u n e .P alm ersto nO b serv er, P eterb o ro u g hT h is W eek .P icto nC o u n ty G u id e. R ich m o n dH ill/T h o m h ill/V au g h an L ib eral. S carborough M irro r. S to u ffv ille /U x b rid g eT rib u n e ,F o re v e rM x n g ,C ityo f'fo rkG u ard en O P IN IO N RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: YMCA O F O A K V I L L E I Strategies for f ,| |hJ h JiiNqlE Bell FiiNd · C N A T' _ Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America TV AUCTION THE BRONIS BUTTERFLY 467 S p e e rs Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 8 4 5 -3 8 2 4 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 8 4 5 -2 8 0 9 Circulation: 8 4 5 -9 7 4 2 C O N T k fo / M o fo a S A R I O JTbhern J^ward O 'TVtf _ (Q ah'iHe <3$:wa$s F O RB U SIN E S SE X C E L L E N C E | o a k v ille g a lle rie s | NOB HrbhrMMk S K OaCJUU Children's Choir T O W NO f MO A 1 : : rtrm , P C X(/B U S IN E S S K T H E A R T S E d i t o r i a l s W h e r e w ill t h e p o w e r g o ? If you count yourself among those who don't always devote 100 per cent of their focus to driving, you may soon be in for a $325 wake-up call. This week, the Ontario Provincial Police launched Operation Distraction - a crackdown on those who try to perform too many additional tasks while behind the wheel of their cars. Officers will specifically be targeting motorists who cause accidents or near misses along the QEW and 400-series highways. Unfortunately, some drivers don't believe eating, reading the morning paper, touching up their makeup or chatting on the cell phone, while driving, makes them any less competent as commuters. Operation Distraction will slap a careless driving charge, a $325 fine and six demerit points on anyone caught endangering others through such irresponsible activities behind the wheel. Drivers who reach 15 demerit points automatically have their licence sus pended for 30 days. A careless driving conviction can also lead to a licence sus pension - even without 15 demerit points. Increased enforcement o f these penalties for high-risk drivers will be in effect until the fall - mostly during rush hour. According to the Canada Safety Council, 85 per cent of all collisions are Caused by driver error, including motorists who are distracted by a second activity they're performing while behind the wheel. We already know just how deadly it can be to drink alcohol and drive. Does it seem unreasonable to expect someone operating a motor vehicle weighing thousands of pounds, at speeds exceeding 100 km-h, to pay complete attention to what their doing? Too often the failure to pay attention can cause expensive damage to vehicles, or worse, irreparable harm - even death - to people. If you insist on having that first cup of coffee, reading about how the Leafs or Raptors fared in their playoff pursuit or answering your cell phone, for everyone's sake pull off the road and park somewhere until you're done. Your fellow motorists and your wallet will thank you. Heck, you may even save a life. Anatomy of a D in o sa u r 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 C o u n c illo r s ig n o r e d th e v o c a l m in o r ity L e tte r o f th e W e e k The system doesn't work! I am referring to the system by which we elect councillors to make decisions based on consultation and careful consideration o f the evidence provid ed and, hopefully, research conducted by themselves. I have spent almost eight hours of my life sitting in council meetings on the issue of pesticide/herbicide use on our public lands and I feel I have wasted my time. Not just wasted my time sitting in the meetings, but wasted my time even voting in the election. What was the point of holding a public meet ing on th is issu e w hen the d ecisio n was already made in the m inds o f m ost o f the Councillors anyway? W hat is the point hav ing the thirteen of you debating issues when you rarely ever disagree with staff recom mendations or ever agree with the majority of your constituents? At the committee meeting I heard a few people talk about the silent majority of peo ple wanting to maintain the status quo. If the silent m ajority is silent, then how do you know what they are really thinking? I feel that the term "silent majority" is a political term used to justify making a decision that is co n trary to w hat the vocal and involved masses want. What about the vocal "minori ty" that m ake th eir position so painfully clear? I submit to you that the silent majority may be better characterized as the ambivalent majority who neither understand the issues at stake or believe that they have to participate because "that's why we elect councillors", to make decisions for us. W hen this issue first became a hot topic in Town, I was concerned enough to come to C ouncil. On both o ccasio n s I w anted to speak -- but at committee we ran out of time and last night I felt that my points had been raised over and over again by experts and first hand w itnesses to the im pacts o f the continued use o f these poisons and I had nothing new to add. At committee there were lots of questions and d ebate am o n g st the m em bers -- it appeared the councillors Robinson and Knoll M other' sD aygiftwithalastingim pression I just wanted to write to tell you about a great Birthday/Mothers day gift idea. I have four siblings, and my parents are both well into their mid 70's. Whenever we ask them what they want for birthdays or Mothers and Fathers day, they always reply with "Oh, we don't need anything." It has always been a frustrating decision to pick an appropriate gift that would be well appreciated. After pondering the gift thing once again, my sister came up with a great idea which was instead of purchasing a gift, we coordinated a willing crew of family members which included my sisters, brother, brother and sister in law, and two nephews, to go to my parents home last Saturday, and do a complete spring clean of their home. Windows were washed inside and out, curtains and blinds were washed and re-hung, car pets were steamcleaned. The eavestroughs were cleaned, lawn and garden attended too, as well as minor home repairs that my brother took care of. We were a mean clean fighting machine, and we ended up having a lot of fun and a great day! My parents really appreciated it. and it meant so much more than a store bought gift. So for thos£ of you who don't mind pulling up your sleeves, how about doing something like this for Mothers Day. Gerri Ferreira were listening. I felt good about that night -- even the deferral made sense because there wasn't enough time. Last night I had a bad feeling right from the beginning. Councillors w ere not asking questions, m ost seem ed bored and uninterested, a few even seemed to be ignoring the speakers. I knew that the issue was going nowhere fast. I listened to speaker after speakers provide com pelling commentary and from my count there were 18 speakers -- 12 opposed and only 6 in favor. Still that w asn't enough to sway the decision. I will not go into facts and figures, as I am sure you have heard enough, but you were all so busy congratulating yourselves for doing such a good jo b and boasting about your strange alliances on council, that you totally forgot that you essentially ignored the pas sionate will of the people in that room. And the ultimate insult is the Mayor bab bling on about how there was "much agree ment" at the two meetings. I must have been at a different meeting, because I didn't hear much agreement! Last night two thirds o f the delegations w anted a total ban on public spraying -- w here w as the ag reem ent w ith w hat the council approved? A nd a g a in , the m ay o r se em ed to be attacking the two dissenting councillors in her closing diatribe. I am surprised that any body has the will to oppose the Mayor at risk of hearing a speech like that. Madam Mayor, I was insulted and embarrassed by you and your comments last night and at committee. You are not listening to what the people are saying. A t the beginning o f the night you warned us that you were suffering from jet lag -- no kidding! Just so that you know, I will not be attend ing any more council meetings. They are pointless and a w aste o f my tim e. I w ill how ever, take a m ore active interest in the next election! It's time for a change! Sithe power plant does not belong in urbanarea Re: Sithe Southdown power station. Nobody could ever deny the need for `cleaner' hydro power, certainly if this meant Lakeview was closed as this was closed, as this was opened, it might be a good thing. However, the chances of that are slim to nil, and for a power station to even be considered in this location borders on criminal. The Oakville/Mississauga area has the highest pollution count on a regular basis, bar none, each and every day. Higher even than Toronto, and incredibly higher than Hamilton with its filthy industry and steel works. This is not a situation I imagined; it's for real. Personally, I live within one mile of the proposed sta tion, and every year am appalled at the pollution we are subject to now, sometimes so bad it hangs over the area and is clearly visible, never mind the high asthma incidences. No matter how clean this station is, it will still be emit ting NOX and SOX into the atmosphere all the time, and while they may be acceptable levels (whatever that means), they will be adding to our pollution count. I took the trip, sponsored by Sithe, to their Oswego, New York location. Once there, I didn't need to tour the plant (I did though); I knew just by looking at it that it would be spotless, and it was, inside and out. They left the bus running, so I wasn't able to discern how "noisy" was the constant humming and its appearance is as good as any tall, stacked, aluminum-sheeted building could look (in other words, austere), emitting constant, very obvious water vapour also. I asked how near was the closest community. The answer was four miles away. There are million dollar homes within 300 yards of the proposed plant, and literally thousands of residences that, value wise, could be drastical ly affected by this station's location, and because I've been a realtor for 28 years, I know what I'm talking about (loca tion, location, location). While we were in Oswego, they brought in an official from the nearest community who spoke to Sithe's commu nity mindedness and cooperation. Frankly, who cares they can sponsor, support whatever they want. It means nothing when they are polluting the air that people, close by and for miles around breathe on a daily basis. Are these `cleaner' plants necessary? Undoubtedly. Are we going to need more hydro? Positively, but how in all conscience, building such a plant in a highly-populated, over-polluted area can even be considered, speaks directly to an Environment Ministry that gives lip service, talks to an Assessment Act that is laughable; and undoubtedly when their plant (should it be built, as I'm sure it will), emits below acceptable levels and they `sell' their pluses to another polluter whose levels are not acceptable, what's the point? Julius McKenna P u d by Steve Nease Pat Melhuish H o w a b o u t B ill H ill B r i d g e ? "Changing Face of Bronte" has never stopped, it has slow ly evolved. When you start to look for a name for the Rebecca Bridge, I would nominate a man who has been the spirit of Bronte from practically the beginning. When I first arrived in Bronte in 1977 it did not take me long to be aware of Bill Hill. Here is a man who from day one of his grocery business delivered in all kinds of weather to the shut-ins and elderly throughout Oakville and he still does. He probably has forgot ten more such people's due bills then you can shake a stick at. We know him as a kind and caring person. May we nominate the name Bill Hill for the new bridge. John and Janet Ledoux