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

6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday September 1, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Manager TERI CASAS Business Manager MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, Caledon Enterprise, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian Killing with kindness Parents, understandably, tend to look at their own children's behaviour through rose-coloured glasses. It's often the other child who started the fight or didn't do what they were told or was acting up. A new poll commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), suggests that the self-delusion of parents may be putting their kids on the path to poor health. According to the poll, only nine per cent of Canadian parents believe their children are overweight or obese when, in fact, data collected by Statistics Canada indicates 26 per cent of Canadian kids are overweight or obese. "I have a very real fear we are killing our children with kindness by setting them up for a lifetime of inactivity and poor health," said Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai, president of the CMA. In the eyes of adult respondents, only six per cent gave Canadian kids an `A' for overall health, but when it came to assessing their own kids, 40 per cent gave their children top marks. The CMA releases an annual report card to measure public feelings about the health system and the overall grades vary little from year to year. However, this year the report card focused on child health and the CMA, which represents 62,000 physicians, is expected to push both federal and provincial governments to adopt specific targets for improving kids' health. Poll respondents suggested adopting initiatives such as mandatory physical education from Kindergarten to Grade 12, a mandatory school curriculum on the benefits of physical activity and healthy diet, and removing all junk food from schools. But better child health must begin at home. Parents can follow simple guidelines such as those on the Ministry of Health Promotions HealthyOntario.com website. Suggestions range from having the family eat together to educating yourself on proper diets to getting rid of the sugary drinks kids love. Making sure your child spends more time playing outside and less time with the video games also helps. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 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, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Labour Day weekend shouldn't end in tragedy This Labour Day weekend is the last one of summer before school and jobs start again. It is also a weekend where every year people, mostly those under 25, die from car or water activity accidents. If we were all very careful, we could get through these last carefree days of summer, without anyone in Canada dying in a needless accident. Last weekend my 18-year-old cousin, Alex Rutherford, drowned in a canoeing accident at Rice Lake, Ontario. The weather changed suddenly, the canoe overturned, his friend was able to get back to the canoe and hang on until he was rescued, Alex didn't. Neither one were wearing life jackets. In B.C., like many other places, we have lots of fun places for swimming, boating, and camping and some winding, busy highways you must travel on to get there. It would be lovely to give fresh flowers to someone we care about this weekend, instead of placing them at a roadside memorial. Studies (I know this sounds boring but) have shown that young brains are not fully able to recognize dangerous or risky BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com situations until age 25. That is why so many young people die -- they think, oh well, I don't need a seatbelt, to slow down, to wear a life jacket, to watch where I am diving, etc. They just didn't think it could happen to them and in such a brief moment they are gone. Please, parents, teenagers, and young people -- stop this weekend and think before it becomes your last. The Rutherford family rule now is: always lifejackets, buckle up, slow down, safety first! Have fun this weekend and live to tell someone about it. Thanks. LINDA CAIN, VICTORIA B.C. Pud Another tree bylaw opponent Please include my name as a member of the tree by-law opposition committee. The mayor and her council need a reality check on the issues affecting the residents of Oakville. Controlling what I can or cannot do with the trees I plant on my property should be the least of the Town's concern. I personally, will go to jail before I comply with this bylaw. JIM BOND 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.