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<8 Oakville Beaver Weekend Sunday May 16, 1999 <3> OAKVILLE 8 4 5 -6 6 0 1 SCAIb NEWS The Town of Oakville's Special Committee Against Impaired Driving (SCAID) was created by Town Council in 1984, in response to a request made by the Attorney General of Ontario to all municipalities. The purpose of this request was to encourage communities to develop local initiatives to combat the serious problem of drinking and driving. In the upcoming months, SCAID will be involved in a number of special projects. BOTTLE DRIVE On Saturday, May 15, SCAID participated in the 1999 OCCID Bottle Drive. Mayor Ann Mulvale and Councillor Stephen Sparling, in addition to other Committee members, were on hand at all 5 Oakville Beer Store locations, encouraging customers to donate their empty beer bottles or cans to the Ontario Community Council on Impaired Driving (OCCID). In 1998, this province-wide event raised nearly $19,000.00. DRINKING AND DRIVING AW ARENESS WEEK May 17-24 has been declared "Drinking and Driving Awareness Week" in Oakville. During this week, SCAID, together with groups like the Oakville Injury Prevention Network (OIPN), will be conducting several events, including a Community Forum on Injury Prevention, to be held at the Oakville Municipal Building on Tuesday, May 18, from 7 to 9 p.m. Be on the lookout for the "Drinking and Driving - I t's Been Done to Death" posters that have been distributed to Oakville Bars and Restaurants as part of this week. D RIN KIN G AND DRIVING A W ARENESS A W ARDS The recipients of the 1999 Drinking and Driving Awareness Awards have been selected. SCAID established this program in 1989 to annually give public recognition to individuals and corporate citizens who have displayed outstanding dedication and leadership towards eliminating drinking and driving in Oakville. At the June 21st Town Council meeting, awards will be presented to Mrs. Sue Foley and Oakville- Trafalgar High School. A special Letter of Recognition will also be presented to Mr. Larry Glazier. Members of the public are welcome to attend. 1 9 9 9 E S S A y SEARCH The deadline for submissions to the 1999 Essay Search in Memory of Janet Dooley has now passed. The purpose of this annual contest is to solicit the views and concerns of the youth in Oakville regarding drinking and driving. Janet Dooley attended school at both the elementary and secondary levels in Oakville and was tragically killed by an impaired driver in 1991. SCAID would like to thank all of the students who have submitted essays as well as The Co-Operators Insurance Services and Sears Driver Training (Oakville) for their generous sponsorship of the contest again this year. S tu d en ts - th e judging has begun. S ta y tuned... winners will be announced shortly! NEED M ORE INFORMA TIO N I f you would like any additional inf ormation about SCAID or any of the above-noted projects, please feel fre e to contact Kimberley Kitteringham, Committee Co-ordinator, at 845-6601, ext. 3093. 1225 TRAFALGAR ROAD • OAKVILLE, ONTARIO • L6H 2L1 Time to end pass-the-buck politics By Kevin Flynn LIBERAL PARTY CANDIDATE We are fortunate to live in a histori­ cally safe community such as Oakville. In fact, our concern for our neighbours and their well being, is often what causes people to move to our town. It is vital however that we do not become complacent. It is a government's responsibility to ensure that residents are provided with a first rate police force and fire department. To have these vital services function properly, a government must be committed to pro­ viding the necessary funds. Recent funding cuts by the Harris Conservatives have hampered our Police and Fire Professionals' ability to carry out their duties in the fashion they would like. The Harris Conservatives have placed the burden for financing these responsibilities on local municipalities. The proper staffing requirements for fire vehicles must be finally resolved in consultation with our front line professionals. The Harris Conservatives have become the party of "Pass the buck" policies. It is easy to say you are going to cut taxes, if you are also going to abdicate responsibility for providing the essen­ tial services the people of this province require. It is simply irresponsible! The question must be placed to the Premier: If you aren't spending our tax dollars on protecting our communities, what are you spending it on? The Liberal Party and myself are determined to keep Oakville and Ontario safe by: N D P w o u ld By Sean Cain NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY CANDIDATE Everyone in society has the right to live safe and comfortable lives in their homes and their communities. Yet the solutions to these problems, the so- called "get tough on crime" stances by the present government, do not get to the roots and causes of crime and do not work as a deterrent. The Harris policy on crime only seeks to dehumanize people more under harsher and harsher systems of brutality and coercion that will only cause jail inmates and others who are incarcerated to exhibit greater forms of aggression, recidivism and other anti-social forms of behaviour. Although "getting tough on crime" may sound good from the mouth of a politician on a 10 second television sound bite, in the paper or on the radio, it really means getting tough on people, most of whom simply need treatment and rehabilitation. Only the NDP believes in a corrections system that seeks to do just that-correction, not retribution or revenge. The Harris Tories have cut funding to programs designed to help troubled youth with severe psychological prob­ lems, youth who are now being thrown into jails under more inhumane condi­ tions. They have also slashed millions of dollars of funding to shelters for abused women and children as well as funding to rape crisis centres. This real­ ly shows where the Conservatives stand on the issue of crime. Considering that almost 90% of all crime is directly or indirectly related to property, full employment and income distribution must e a top priority of any government. It is a proven fact that countries which have a more equal shar- In the weeks leading up to the June 3rd provincial election, the Oakville Beaver will be running viewpoints by the Oakville riding candidates on current issues...today they respond to... POLICING & CRIME -Ensuring the proper funding is restored to our Police and Fire Forces in order to guarantee the safety of our communities. -Ensuring that those who commit violent crimes, including youth, face severe penalties. -Ensuring Crown Attorneys seek the a tta c k c r im e ing of wealth (those such as the social democratic nations of Scandinavia) have far lower crime rates (both in prop­ erty and violent crime) than countries which are economically unequal (the United States, for example). Only the NDP believes in a more fairer and just economy where anyone who wants a job can get one. Ontario police forces must change as well. Officers should be put under democratic control of local communi­ ties jjnd civilian oversight. Those who exhibit racist, sexist and homophobic behaviour against the population should be removed from their post. No one in society should have to suffer because of discriminatory practises by certain police officers. This took a more brutal form when Dudley George, an maximum sentence in cases o f violent crime against children and seniors. -Ensure that the proceeds of crime are redirected towards front line policing. Criminals will not bene­ fit from their crimes. -Creating an elite highly trained squad of police to investigate difficult crimes across Ontario. -Working with Police to ensure that their rights are preserved while they are performing their duties. -Our Police must know that when they act in an appropriate f a s h i o n they will have full government back­ ing. Working with community leaders and schools on crime prevention initiatives with our youth. The best way to deal with crime is to prevent it before it happens. -Restoring funding to abused women shelters. Let's punish the criminal, not the victim! -Quadrupling funding for Project P, the Ontario Provincial P o l i c e ' s crackdown on child pornography. -Working with the Federal Government for sensible gun legislation. Do we need 12 year olds carrying loaded rifles in t h i s province? Mr. Harris thinks we do! -Maintaining government control over prisons in order to protect the public. Prisons run for private profit create an unhealthy compet­ ing mix of profit and public safety. Kevin Flynn and Liberal Government will put the safety of the residents of Oakville first! a t its ro o ts Aboriginal activist who was peacefully occupying Native land at the Ipperwash Provincial Park, was murdered by an armed policeman. This case is current­ ly under criminal investigation, and there is ample evidence that the order for this shooting came from someone in Premier Harris' very own office. Taking angry, violent criminals and putting them into jails which are going to make them more angry and violent has never and will never work as a deterrent to crime, and the NDP has constantly opposed these measures. What Ontario needs is policies, both economic and social, that will prevent crime as well as rehabilitate those in our correctional system. This is what it really means to get "tough on crime." C o n s e r v a t i v e s c o m m i t t e d t o i m p r o v i n g p o l i c e s e r v i c e s By Gary Carr PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE Everyone in Ontario has the right to be safe from crime. We should be able to walk in our neighbourhoods, use public transit, live in our homes and send our children to school free from the fear of criminals. We have made great strides towards achieving this objective. We are putting 1,000 new police officers on the streets and increasing support for victims of crime, while cracking down on crimi­ nals, but there is still a lot more we can do. We have provided police officers with modem law enforcement equipment and are replacing aging jails with new, more secure facilities. We have introduced 90 day, on the spot suspensions for drunk drivers and a zero tolerance policy for unsafe trucks and truckers. Ontario's DN A crime lab has been expanded, mak­ ing it one of North America's best. Funding for the independent Special Investigations Unit has been increased so that our police forces are not only more effective, but also more accountable. The number of applications to have crim­ inals, particularly pedophiles declared dangerous offenders, has dramatically increased under this government. Young Offenders As Co-chair of the Strict Discipline Task Force for Young Offenders, I was (See 'Boot1 page 12)