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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER W ednesday Novem ber 10, 1999 T h e O a k v il l e B e a v e r Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Martin Doherty Circulation Director Ten Casas Office Manager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director o fPhotography M etroiand Printing. P ubfchng & D istributing L id ., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser. ASston HerakVCourier. Barrie Advance. Barry's Bay This W eek. Bolton Enterprise. Bram pton G uardan. B urlington Post. B crtngton Shopping News. C ity Parent. Co*ngwoocVW asaga Connection. East York M rror, Erin A dvocate'C ountry Routes. E tobicoke G uardan. Flam borougfi Post. Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press. H uonia Business Tm es. K ingston T his W eek, Lindsay This W eek. M arkham Ecnom ist & Sun. M idland/P enetang uishine M irro r. M ilto n C anadian C ham pion. M ilto n Shopping News. M ssissauga Business Tm es. M ssissauga News. Napanee G uide. N ew m arket/Aixora Era-Banner, N orthurberland News. N orth York M rror, G akvie Beaver, O akvie Shopping News. O tJtm ers Hockey News. Q r*a Today. O shaw aW hitty/Q arington Port Perry This Week. Owen S otnd Tribune. P eterborough T his W eek. P icto n C ounty G lid e . R ichm ond H ill/T hornhiil/V aughan Liberal. Scartx>rough M irror. S touffviBe/U xbridge T ribine. Forever Young. C ity o f York Guardan O PIN IO N RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ^ C N A Canadian Community Newspapers Association Newspapers ot America 467 Speers Rd., Oakville O n t L6K3S4 (905) 8 4 5 -3 8 2 4 Fax: 33 7 -5 5 6 7 Classified Advertising: 8 4 5 -2 8 0 9 Circulation: 8 4 5 -9 7 4 2 SKt Editorials Give th e m a h o m e Members of The Salvation Army are not fortune tellers. But when one of their number says there will be homeless people on the streets of Oakville unless something is done, you'd better listen. And that's just what the Town of Oakville has done after hearing Maj. Ray Braddock tell them that unless some kind of accommodation was found, homeless people would be sleeping in downtown doorways. Braddock is under no illusion that a permanent solution is at hand, but he was right in having the Town look at opening the old Grace House facility on Old Mill Road, as a temporary housing solution dur ing the winter months. It's not like the people who would use this facility are the kind of traditional `street people' as seen in larger centres such as Toronto. Instead, they include the working poor who have trouble finding suit able accommodation, abused women or teens estranged from their fam ilies. A special zoning by-law am endm ent is needed to use the Grace House until the end of March when more permanent accommodation must be found. Hopefully the vote will be a mere formality. N ever fo rg o tten Some of our touchstones with the past are fast disappearing. They are the veterans of World War I. Only a handful of these men are left and over the next couple of years, they will fade into history. The same fate awaits their brothers and sisters who survived World War II. But on one day a year we remember not only them but also their fallen comrades who gave all they had in a bid to keep us free. That day is tomorrow, Nov. 11th and at 11 a.m., turn off the phone, shut off the radio or television, put your head down for two minutes and remember those who fought and died for our way of life. Do this, Lest We Forget. Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters m ust be typed, signed and include the w riter's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 R e s id e n t s m a d e d iffe r e n c e a t O M B We would like to take this opportunity to thank the residents of Glen Abbey for their participa tion in the Home Depot OMB public p articip atio n evening. There was an overw helm ing show of support and I think the residents of our community effec tively and passionately communi cated our concerns and issues to the OMB chair. Our thanks to those of you who handed out fly ers, made phone calls, attended the meeting, spoke at the meeting, and contributed financially to support STOP and its efforts to give the community a coherent voice for its objections to Home Depot's appeal of the Town of Oakville's decision regarding its applications for re-zoning this site. There are only a few more days left o f the form al OMB hearing. Several representatives to STOP and GARA will be speaking at the hearing; they will set out their specific objections, and will summarize the commu n ity 's many objections to the Home Depot appeal, hopefully, as eloquently as the members of the community have done Monday at the public session of the OMB hearing. Whatever the final decision, though, the residents made a dif ference. Neighbours came togeth er as a community and stood up for what they believed in. It felt good to be a part o f that. In today's world, one often wonders if one individual can make a dif ference. The members of STOP think that it is possible, and we believe ft does make a difference. We encourage each member of this community to continue to get involved in the issues that are important to them, and to stand up and support issues that they believe in. Renee Sandelowsky, on behalf o f STOP Letter of the W eek Tow n B u d g e t o n v erg e o f expan d in g Well, it's budget time again at the Town of Oakvillegot your cheque book open? Take a look at the Year 2000 budget and it's easy to sense that this is only a windup, a precursor to what's coming over the next few years (this budget should be light because there's an election coming next year but the prospects of the 2001 budget deliberations could be scary). That's not to argue with what needs to be done and the costs of those requirements for it does need to be acknowledged that the restraint of the past few years involved deferrals and Band-Aid solutions. Naturally, there's been a build-up of deferrals, half-measures and ignored maintenance and replacement costs that will also be cumulatively greater than what timely action would have required. But this all brings back the nagging and core ques tion of what is the business of a municipal government body or agency? Is it to be a coordinating body to facil itate forms of community activity as well as to provide a set of public safety services such as fire, police res cue, public health and safety or, is it a creator and pur veyor of all that and diverse other services (i.e. recre ational)? The Oakville population is growing and the bureau cracy is growing. With the issues of growth comes growth in the activities of government. The cost attach ments will have the same rate of roaring growth. During the Sat. Nov. 6th discussion of Budget 2000 items, one of the budget committee members, Coun. Stephen Sparling, wondered why, at a time of provin cial tax reductions and impending federal tax reduc tions, was the Town of Oakville going in the other direction? So, again the public taxpayer and voter, is faced with the question of what a government is in the busi ness to provide. If the community wants more, then it better be prepared to line up with cheque book in hand, because the tax demand here is getting ready to grow again. If the choice is for more or only according to what we want to afford, then we'd all better get out there, start asking questions and be prepared to make some hard choices. Arguably, that's going to take time and the patience to sit through incredibly boring discus sions and tedious monologues; it's work we'd all rather pass up. But then, there's got to be some truth to that old saw that work is the only thing you can eat on toast. Simon Dann S t e v e n 's p a r e n t s g a v e u l t i m a t e g i f t Most of us have heard about the tragic death of 11-year-old Steven Hawke and have privately mourned with his family and friends. What most of us may not know is that Brad and Yvonne Hawke and son Bryon, made the courageous decision to donate Steven's organs so others might see and live. They made a terrible tragedy into an occasion of hope. I want to publicly thank them. God bless the whole Hawke family. Colleen Francisci Linked pathways could help ease town's transportation woes I believe that Oakville needs to design an integrated non-motorized transportation route system. A linked system of pathways through our com m unity could allow people to walk or use bicy cles to move freely within the community. C urrently, some pathw ays exist, but the focus seems to be on recreation, and north-south access across the Q.E.W. is difficult. I would suggest that the sys tem of integrated pathways that exist in the city of Ottawa could be used as a model. I believe this transportation plan should be considered timely due to the rapid growth of our town and the beneficial effects to our environment. If such a plan was implement ed now as new construction pro ceeds, it would prove more costeffective than changing existing systems. Halloween was too scary To the adult on Ballantry Road that thinks it's funny to dress up on Hallowe'en and act like a statue until small children are near, then jumps out and scream s at them , thanks for ruining my son's Hallowe'en. My five-year-old son was so frig h ten e d , he wouldn't continue to trick or treat. He came straight home and that is all he talked about all night. He was so scare, he couldn't sleep alone and even this morning, he talked about the mean man who scared all the kids. He is already worried about passing by your place next year. Hallowe'en is for children. Let's make it safe and fun. Cathy Goderson Henry Harris System should work equally...even for Karla A just society accords each and every citizen the unfettered right to due process. No more rigorous test regarding Canada's sta tus in this regard can be found than in Karla H om olka's affadavit o f appeal regarding her application for escorted temporary absence. Ju d g in g from the ven o m o u s re sp o n se to Homolka's request for due process, particularly in the press, it would appear Canadians have a long way to go before proclaiming themselves members of a just society. What passed off as journalism this past week, was both an insult to the profession and an affront to the general pub lic. · In accordance with Corrections Canada regu latio n s, K arla H om olka applied for escorted tem porary absence from the Joliette Institute, and was subsequently refused by Warden MarieAndree Cyrenne. According to law, she had two avenues of appeal. One was an internal assess m ent through C orrections C anada itself, the other by way of a judicial review. She opted for the latter. In other words, a judge and thankfully not the court o f public o p in io n , w ill d eterm in e the appeal's validity. Bad enough the press degenerated into a feed ing frenzy rant over Homolka's appeal, (possibly jeopardizing her right to a fair hearing). Worse, that C o rrectio n s C anada program s aim ed at rehabilitating inmates were unjustly denigrated in the process. Surely, rehabilitation remains the ned goal of incarceration. Even for Karla Homolka. At issue is process, not outcome. Regardless of how Canadians feel about Karla H om olka's release, she possesses a fundamental right to be heard-a right that must never be denied. P eter P ellier Pud we^ e tr ie p toilet- by Steve Nease Carousel supporters w ant m ore I, along with several friends, was among the crowd attending "Carousel of Nations" on Oct. 23rd. Congratulations are due to all concerned in the time and effort required to stage this highly interesting first time event. We visited several pavilions: Greece, Latin A m erica, C arib b ean , the A rabian co u n tries and, of c o u rse , the w o n d e rfu l C an ad ia n p re s e n ta tio n . We attended the opening cerem ony at the latter and were impressed by the inclusion of the First Nations' peoples, the children's music -- and the Town Crier. Our one disappointment, true of all such events, was that we could not see everything and sample the food at all the pavillions. We decided that means we have to come back next year! Again, congratulations to all who made this event come to life. P atricia Baird ^ TRAINING BOORS, BRIBES, E V E N A VIDEO, AND NOTHING r- ' ' Til SEEMS TD H AH A / j& m iw ^U S E T H E WORK/ r m k o im i i < tdilet and ,