The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, October 2, 2015 | 6 Stop the violence Approximately 140 local men donned pink high heels and took a walk down streets in Oakville and neighbouring Burlington last weekend, in a bid to raise awareness for ending violence against women and to support Halton Women's Place (HWP). HWP operates two shelters for abused women and their children -- one in Milton and another in Burlington. It was the sixth annual Hope in High Heels event, with a Burlington walk Saturday, followed by another in Oakville on Sunday. Combined, the two community fundraisers raised $110,000 for HWP -- surpassing the event's 2015 goal by about $10,000. The special walk -- which will add a Milton event in 2016 -- gives men and boys an opportunity to take a stand by supporting an end to violence against women while supporting the Halton shelters. It's a growing grassroots effort to push for social change. "We say these are women's issues, but really these are human rights issues, so these are everyone's issues," said HWP development manager Carm Bozzo. "We are often at capacity. The funding we get from the government only goes so far and then it is up to these events and community support to help us run these programs and shelters," she added. Last year, HWP , which provides shelter and crisis services for physically-, emotionally-, nancially- and sexually-abused women and their dependent children, provided services to around 1,185 women and children and responded to more than 1,125 crisis calls. Funds raised during the Hope in High Heels events allow HWP to continue to operate its shelters, as well as offer assistance programs to clients. "This event means so much to Halton Women's Place, as we believe it is through education and advocacy that woman abuse will be prevented and ultimately, ended. We know that it is crucial to have men stand up against woman abuse," said Bozzo. Unfortunately, while grassroots efforts to put an end to gender violence and support the local organizations that assist its victims are growing, support of funded programs that aim to curb such violent behaviour have been victims of provincial budget cuts. On Monday of this week, NDP Women's Issues Critic Peggy Sattler (London West) publicly challenged that Premier Kathleen Wynne's Liberal government has put more women at risk by reducing the province's Partner Assault Response program -- which deals with partner assault offenders -- by 25 per cent, from 16 to 12 weeks. "This (March 2014) decision was made without any research into the impact of a shortened program on recidivism and the safety of women and children," Sattler's open letter asserted, saying it was driven by the need to cut costs. Sattler maintains the impact of that decision 18 months ago is now coming to light. While Wynne, just this month, pledged increased funding for 42 sexual assault centres -- to the tune of $1.75 million annually -- shouldn't programs that aim to put an end to the violence also be maintained or improved -- not cut? If our goal here, as a society, is to eradicate gender violence, then adequate resources need to be dedicated toward preventing it from happening in the rst place. Editorial This is a picture of a coyote that was on my front lawn last week. It was around 3:30 p.m. and it then wandered around my neighbours' front and back yard. This is not the rst time, as the week before, I encountered a coyote twice in one day. Once, at around noon, it was coming up the sidewalk just south of my house and then around 8 p.m., again on the sidewalk coming towards my house. I was walking my dog both times. The second time, a lady stopped her car and asked if I wanted to get in until the coyote went by. The Town (of Oakville) really needs to do something. I feel scared and it's unsafe to let my dog out in the back yard or even to take it for a walk at any time of the day. When I do walk her, I have to always be on the lookout for the coyote. Very unnerving. Kim Owen-Turner, Oakville "Connected to your Community" Coyote sightings unnerving for resident Letters to the Editor 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 53 | Number 79 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor A coyote recently appeared on a resident's front lawn in southwest Oakville. There have been numerous sightings of a coyote in the areas of Bridge Road, Third Line, Rebecca Street and Burloak Drive in recent months. Several weeks ago, police were called when a coyote disrupted traf c in the area of Great Lakes Boulevard and Rebecca Street. Information about living with coyotes can be found on the Town of Oakville's website at www.oakville.ca. | submitted photo ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production SANDY PARE MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution Traffic is not flowing on Trafalgar Road When is Oakville going to address and/or remedy the traf c congestion on Trafalgar Road -- speci cally between Cornwall Road and Leighland Avenue? The current bridge construction is causing unbelievable backups, especially at rush hour in the afternoon. We were told that adjustments to traf c lights would be made, but I regularly have to wait through three or four light changes to even make the turn north on Trafalgar Road from Cornwall Road. A normal four-minute drive home now takes almost half an hour. It seems to me more research needs to be done to keep the traf c owing. S.H. Clydesdale, Oakville CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Election sign vandalism infantile stunt I am a senior-citizen resident of Oakville. I have no strong attachment to any political party. From reading the CVs of those candidates running for federal election in our riding, I see much to be admired in all of them. On the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 29, I was driving along Rebecca Street, from Bronte Road to Burloak Drive, and saw all the election signs for (Oakville Liberal candidate) John Oliver had been torn down. I hope that whoever did this will read this. Firstly, this person or persons are vandals. They are cowardly doing their dirty work under cover of darkness. They are perverting the idea of democracy. I am unsure what their motive was for this infantile act, but this is what I must do. I must vote for John Oliver. If I do not, then by any other vote I have condoned their act. And for those readers who may suggest that the vandals were using reverse psychology, may I suggest that these people would not even be able to spell it. AJ. Dennis Toews, Oakville Proud Official Media Sponsor For: The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 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, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.