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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER W ednesday February 16,2000 T he Oakville B eaver Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Martin Doherty Circulation Director Teri Casas OfficeManager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director ofPhotography M etrdand P rin tin g ,P u b lish in g&D istrib u tin gU d.. in clu d es: A jax /P ick en n g N ew s /A d v e rtise rA H isto nH erak l'C o u n er. B am eA d v an ce. B arry 's B ayT he W eek. B o lto nE n terp rise, B ram p to nG u ard ian .B ulm gton P ost. B ulington Shoppng N ew s. C ityP arent. C o U n g w cx x W V asag aC o n n ectio n .E ast 'fak M irro r. E rinA dvocate/C ountryR outes. E to b ico k eG uardan. F lam b o ro u g h P ost, G eo rg eto w nindependent/A ctonF reeP ress. H uroneB usinessT m es. K ingston T his W eek. L indsay T his W eek. M arkhamE cnom ist &S un. M idland/Penetanguishine M irro r. M ilto nC anadian C ham pion. M ilto n ShoppngN ew s. M ississaugaB usinessT m es. M ississau g aN ew s. N apanee G u id e. N ew m ark et/A u ro ra E ra-B an n er. N orthunbertand N ew s. N o rthV b rk M rro r. O a k v illeB eav er. O a k v illeS h opping N ew s. O k jto n ers H o ck eyN ew s. O n liaT o d a y .O sh aw a/W h tb y /C Jan n g to nP o rt P erryT h isW eek .C X v e nSotnd T ribune. Peterborough T his W eek. Picton C ounty G uide. R ichm ond H ill/T h o rn h ill/V & u g h an L ib eral. Scarborough M irro r, S touftville/U xbridge T rib u n e .F o rev er> t> u n g ,Q tyolM y kG uardan O P IN IO N RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: O n tario Community N e w s p a p e rs Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Q s x ? ,V i? i! tL C O M E ^ TH E B RO N T E BUTTER ............. A G O N 1TO. Since 1930 k s s b Ii f* C N A X Canadian Community N e w s p a p e rs A ssociation Suburban N e w s p a p e rs o l A m erica liN q lE B eU FuN d - 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 SK JAthena l | JAward ^Qhe _ (QakviHe <3^wards FOR BUSINESS EXCELLENCE TV AUCTION M oStaoSf q ilH d ito r ia ls W h o 's i n c h a r g e ? T he furor over millions o f dollars in grants doled out by Human Resources D evelopm ent C anada (H R D C ) illustrates again the com plete disregard the Poo-B ahs in O ttaw a have for our money. C anadians pay huge am ounts o f income tax H a l t o n r e g i o n r e c e iv e d in the m istaken but altruistic belief, that these $ 2 6 1 ,8 1 4 i n H R D C funds will be used by the federal governm ent m o n ie s a n d w e lik e to for the good o f everyone. T h a t in c lu d es h ea lth c are, tran sp o rtatio n , t h i n k t h a t t h e s e f u n d s social security, the m ilitary and more. w e r e w e ll u s e d b y th e But there's sim ply no defence for the way in a g e n c ie s w h o a p p lie d w hich H R D C spread m oney like confetti over fo r h e lp . countless groups w ho asked for grants. The facts are shocking. Thousands o f these grants are handed out each year but auditors ju st picked 459 files and o f these, 80 per cent lacked any kind o f financial monitoring. H alton region received $261,814 in HRDC monies and we like to think that these funds w ere w ell used by the agencies who applied for help. But in docum ents released, the funding abuses are there for all to see. Some o f the grants are enough to make a taxpayer jum p off a bridge, for example: M cG ill U niversity applied for an $80,000 grants but received $160,000 and g la d ly to o k it. T h e C a n a d ia n P a ra p le g ic A sso c ia tio n w as o v er-p aid by $256,729 but w hen the group inform ed the governm ent o f the error, the HRDC told them to keep the m oney as an advance against their next grant application. Nice. N o one can deny the purpose o f the H RD C grant program has merit. It was set up to create jo b s and provide skills training. The grants were also to support literacy courses and help young people, the disabled and aboriginals. How appalling that the governm ent has used the billion dollar pool o f as the m inistry cash ultim ate pork barrel, in essence creating a program with little or no fiscal monitoring to ensure that politically-driven grants could be merged with w orthy and docum ented requests for funding. O .0 0 SCHULZ 1 9 2 2 -2 0 0 0 -- o > V Letter of the Week L e t t e r s t o t h e E d it o r T h e O akville B eaver w e lco m es y o u r c o m m e n ts . All le tte rs m u s t be typed, signed a n d in clu d e th e w r ite r 's a d d ress a n d p h o n e n u m b er. S end to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Traffic controls won' t improve situation A s th e T o w n is g e a rin g up fo r th e in sta lla tio n o f th e " v e r tic a l d e f le c tio n c a lm in g m e a s u r e s " o n C h a r tw e ll R o a d , it m ay be u sefu l to re fle c t on the r e la tiv e h a z a rd s o f th is in itia t i v e . T h e p la n is to i n s t a l l s e v e n s p e e d h u m p s a n d tw o r a i s e d c r o s s w a lk s b e t w e e n C o rn w a ll R oad an d L a k e sh o re R o a d is an a tte m p t to " c a lm " th e traffic. It is su rp risin g ju s t how far th e y h a v e a c tu a lly g o n e w ith th is ill-c o n c e iv e d p ro je c t w ith o u t an y b o d y re a lly q u e s tio n in g it. T h e p e r v e r s e u s e o f b u z z w o rd s an d g o b b le d y g o o k such as " v e r tic a l d e f le c ti o n " m a n ag ed to d e fle c t m ore the a tte n tio n o f th e a f f e c te d r e s id e n ts th a n o f f e n d in g v e h i c l e s . W e h av e y et to see an y th in g in the lin e o f n e e d s a s s e s s m e n t f o r th is d ra s tic m e a s u re , a n d c e r ta in ly an y e v id e n c e o f a th o u g h tf u l r is k /b e n e f it a n a ly sis. E v e n a c u r s o r y r e v ie w o f a v a ila b le d a ta r e v e a ls a s u b s ta n tia l b o d y o f e v id e n c e th a t s u c h t r a f f ic o b s t r u c t i n g p r o je c ts are a s so c ia te d w ith a m u l titu d e o f e n v iro n m e n ta l and c o m m u n ity a d v e r s e c o n s e q u e n c e s w h ic h s e e m to o u t w e ig h p o t e n t i a l b e n e f i t s . P o w e rfu l a rg u m e n ts h av e been r a is e d in c o m m u n itie s in th e U n ite d S ta te s re g a rd in g sa fe ty and e v e n e ffic a c y o f th ese m e a su res, n o t th e le a st o f w hich is the p u b lic sa fe ty asp ect. C h a rtw e ll R o ad is an im p o r ta n t a rte ry an d th e so le ac cess ro u te n o t o n ly fo r re sid e n ts on C h a rtw e ll R o a d b u t a lso th o se o n D o n e s s le D r i v e , M ic h a e l T errace, A sh d ale C re s c e n t, and the m a jo r a c c e ss ro u te to r e s i d en ts on C e d ar G ro v e, p o rtio n s of M a p le A venue and L im b ro o k R oad. It is im p o rta n t to r e m e m b e r th a t e m e r g e n c y se rv ic e v eh icle s such as am b u la n c e s and fire fig h tin g eq u ip m en t w ill be a ffec ted by in sti tu tio n o f th ese o b sta cles. F ire tru ck s are often the first to a rriv e to th e aid o f v ic tim s o f ca rd ia c a rre st or o th e r acu te e m e r g e n c ie s . It is in c o n c e iv a b le th a t su c h la rg e tru c k s co u ld n eg o tiate th ese o b stacles w ith an y s p e e d g re a te r th an a craw l, ad d in g p recio u s m in u tes to th e d e s tin a tio n a n d to th e d e liv e ry o f so m e tim es life sav in g e le c tric s h o c k o r o x y g e n . O ne has o nly to ap p re cia te that a m ere eig h t m in u tes sep arate a v ic tim o f c a rd ia c a r r e s t fro m d e a th o r i r r e v e r s i b l e b r a in d a m a g e to u n d e r s t a n d w h y s lo w in g d o w n a f ire tru c k by ev en one m in u te can h av e c a ta stro p h ic co n seq u e n ces to these in d iv id u als. S e c o n d a ry c o n s e q u e n c e s o f th ese speed hum ps en c o u n te re d in o th e r c o m m u n itie s in c lu d e p o o r snow clea rin g , in c re asin g e v e n f u r th e r th e p o te n tia l fo r d elay e d em erg en cy access. T h e o n e y e a r m o n ito rin g p ro ce ss p ro p o sed by th e T ow n ca n n o t be ex p ected to y ield any tru ly useful d ata. W h at are the p red e term in e d p ro sp ec tiv e e n d p o in ts ? R e d u c e d ra te o f a c c i d en ts? Is th is an ac cid en t p ro n e a r e a ? L o w e r s p e e d s ? S u re ly , th is can be a c h ie v e d by o th e r m e a n s. C a lm e r d r iv e r s ? W ell, th a t is h ard ly lik e ly too. W hat w o u ld be the safety en d p o in t o f t h i s " e v a l u a t i o n ? " W o u ld a b se n c e o f an y c a rd ia c a rre sts in the C h a rtw e ll are a p ro v e th at th e s e m e a s u re s a re s a fe ? H ardly! It w ould be like say in g th a t la c k o f fire s in th a t a re a p ro v e d th a t f ire h y d r a n ts are u n n e c e s s a r y ! W h ile it is n o t o fte n th a t c a r d ia c a r r e s t o r acu te life -th rea te n in g em erg en c ie s o c c u r, it is p r e c is e ly fo r th o se rare ev en ts th a t w e plan, and p lan again. W h at can ju s ti fy d e l i b e r a t e o b s t r u c t i o n o f a c c e ss by e m e rg e n c y s e rv ic e s in o u r c o m m u n ity . W ere th e re an y sp e e d in g -re la te d f a ta litie s re c e n tly re p o rte d on C h a rtw e ll R o a d , to j u s t i f y th is a c tio n ? H ave the hum an en v iro n m en ta l an d h ealth co sts been p ro p erly a s s e s s e d a n d b a l a n c e d w ith p o te n tia l b en e fit? L e t's lo o k at o th e r c o m m u n itie s' ex p e rien c e and n o t rep e at th e ir m istak es. I u rg e th e T ow n to re a s s e s s th e w h o le m a tte r b e f o r e d is a s te r strik es and w e en d up h av in g to d is m a n tle th e s e o b s ta c l e s in e m b a r ra s s m e n t a n d c o n s id e r able ex p en se to the ratep ay ers. Chartwell speed bumps would cause problems T h e T ow n o f O ak v ille is p la n n in g to b u ild se v en speed hum ps and tw o raised sid ew alk s on C h a rtw e ll Road between Cornw all and Lakeshore Roads at a bud geted cost o f $60,000. T here are m any problem s w ith speed hum ps. T h ey cause undo wear and tear on vehicles. The constant stop ping and starting can raise pollution levels by as m uch as 50 p£r cent. T h ere are p ro b lem s w ith snow rem o v al. T eenagers are attracted to the hum ps and b rin g th e ir skateboards, rolierblades and even automobiles. It causes aggravation or "road rage." T here is also the considera tion that the traffic problem is not being solved but shift ed to another neighbourhood. T he m ost im portant issue, how ever, I feel is safety. Em ergency vehicles would be forced to drive at speeds o f 20 kph - 40 kph. T hat w ould add considerable tim e to police, fire and am bulance responses. T his is especially crucial for am b u lan ce vehicles, w hich w ould need to travel at reduced speeds not only getting to the hom e of the critically ill patient but also at very reduced speeds driving to the hospital since they would not w ant to jo s tle the patient inside. Just last m onth in Toronto, a young asthm atic, Joshua F le u e llin g , w as tra n sp o rte d to M a rk h a m S to u ffv ille H ospital, 18 m inutes from his hom e, after suffering a cardiac arrest. T he closest hospital, Scarborough G race, is roughly five m inutes aw ay but w as on critical-care by pass. Mr. Fleuelling died. M ayor M el L astm an's response on Jan. 18th in the N ational Post w as, "L ives could be at stake. We d o n 't w ant a second's delay in a life-threatening case. Tim e is critical." I w onder then how the T raffic D epartm ent and the Town O fficials feel that delays in am bulance transport are not im portant to O akville residents? School expansion creating rifts In response to M. H art's letter "St. M ildred' s Protest Waste o f Time a nd M oney," Feb. 9th, I think it was a w aste o f your time writing the let ter. T he residents in the St. M ildred's area do not want more traffic on Linbrook Road, nor do they w ant a turning lane added to this residential street. You obviously drop your children off in the morning, and head back to your own cozy neck-of-the-woods. For you, this area is a school drop-off zone; to us, it is our neighbourhood. As you suggested, the neighbourhood protesters could be sending their m oney to the United Way. Instead, they have to waste it on legal fees, fighting the St. M ildred's expansion "vision." T he "vision" we have for our neighbourhood is the one that currently exists. In a rapidly changing world, isn't that refreshing? K. Johnston-Lynch Re: M. Hart's letter "St. M ildred's protest waste o f time and m oney" Tw o old adages cam e to m ind reading M. H art's advice to "these peo p le" to spend m oney w isely. T hey are o f `the kettle callin g the saucepan black' and `charity starts at hom e.' W hy these? Well, can we ju st reflect for a m om ent on the morality, or w hatever word M. Hart w ould choose o f spending over one (likely over two) million dollars to acquire four lots o f prim e residential land with the intention o f turning a substantial part o f it into school playing fields for the benefit o f a privi leged minority. We could probably all give m ore to charity, but this is not a good line o f argum ent -- w hichever side you look at it. · No. T he really sad issue and this is where I agree with part o f M. H art's colourful letter, is how divisive this w hole debate has becom e since St. M ildred's announced its acquisitions and plans for the neigh bourhood. T he O M B d ecisio n w ill p roduce a w inner and a loser, w ith the p ro sp e c t o f p o ssib ly an o th e r ro u n d o r tw o o f b ic k erin g and legal expenses. Hopefully, wiser heads within the Town have already started w orking on managing the peace between the two sides, if it ever breaks out. Iris Becker Bigger school unacceptable Re: M. H art L etter to the Editor, O akville Beaver, Feb. 9th I am a senior and I was on Linbrook Road last w eek tak ing p h o to g rap h s o f the traffic problem s g enerated by St. M ildred's Lightboum School, so can I assume that I am the "grouchy older m an" referred to in the above letter? If I photographed the two young H art ladies, it w as unin tentional. I did not speak to any students, so I d o n 't know how th ese yo u n g lad ies co uld have co n clu d ed th a t I am "grouchy" and I am sure M. Hart would support my view that "older" is a relative term. In any event, I am a m em ber o f N .A .M .E. (N eighbours O pposed to St. M ildred's E xpansion) -- a residents group that finds itself trying to protect the character o f this neigh bourhood. Let me assure M . Hart that w e have not lost our faith in our fellow man, but we cannot ignore St. M ildred's historic (and current) bad faith in its relationship w ith the residents o f this area. O ne glaring exam ple is the fact that the school has recently purchased an additional fo u r acres o f adjacent land, but has adam antly refused to disclose, or even to discuss, its plans for future expansion onto those lands. M. H art is probably not a resident o f this area and seems to be m isinformed. O therw ise, he/she m ight realize that we see the uncontrolled grow th o f the school as an unacceptable alternative to our insistence on the truth. Graham Holmes A ndrew Zaw ad o w ski, Pud by Steve Nease H.G . G eraghty