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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday May 21, 2008 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: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA ANCHOR Circ. Manager In praise of doctors Have you hugged your doctor lately? If not, you might want to at least give him or her a pat on the back for a job well done, after all it is Halton Physician Appreciation Week. As we all know, good doctors are hard to come by even though Halton Region has been working feverishly (no pun intended) to attract physicians to this area. The Halton Physician Recruitment Initiative was established in 2003 to address this region's shortage of family doctors. To date, more than 60 new family physicians have established a practice here. The initiative is a collaborative effort between Halton Region, local municipalities, physicians, senior area hospital staff and the community. "Each year during Halton Physician Appreciation Week we encourage residents to join us in reflecting on how much we value the doctors who practice within Halton's medical community," said Halton Chair Gary Carr. The Region's physician recruitment co-ordinator Angela Sugden Praysner, said retaining doctors in Halton is just as important as recruiting them here. "Like everyone else, doctors appreciate knowing that their efforts are recognized. We want them to spread the word to their colleagues that Halton Region is a welcoming and rewarding place to live and to practice medicine," said Sugden Praysner. The provincial government, too, recognizes the urgent need to recruit more family physicians. A centre set up to help foreign-trained medical professionals land a job here recently marked an important milestone. Since the Access Centre for Internationally Educated Health Professionals opened in December 2006, 67 of their International Medical Graduate (IMG) clients have been accepted to a medical residency program in Ontario. That number is impressive, since many residents in Ontario face a doctor shortage and far too many highly-skilled immigrants are working in menial jobs. "People in this province need better access to physicians," said George Smitherman, Ontario health minister. We couldn't agree more. As the baby boomers continue to age, the pressure on the provincial health care system will become even greater. Many doctors are looking toward retirement as well, and we suspect that within the next five to 10 years the need for physicians could reach the critical stage. 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. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR I am in agreement with Peter Pellier (Clearview community deserves school, Letter to the Editor, Oakville Beaver, May 14) for the following additional reasons: · There are three buses that on a daily basis each run three times to and from the Clearview area to the elementary, middle and high schools in southeast Oakville, for a total of 18 runs per day. · The cost of diesel fuel has been raised by more than 40 per cent in the last two years, along with a declining number of available school bus drivers in the region. New school in Clearview makes sense · When a snow day occurs (and no buses run) the schools in southeast Oakville become video theatres because there are not enough students present to warrant teaching a class. · Clearview is a high student population area that is currently being used to feed aging schools in other neighbourhoods to keep them in operation. · This school has been in a holding pattern since the community was built (17 years) and the Town of Oakville and Halton Region are on board to help out with the recreational aspects of a new complex, allowing for some cost splitting. · This area is adjacent to a park with soccer and baseball fields. · Construction of the new school can go on during the school year without students and communities suffering the fallout. Building a new school in Clearview would result in less commotion and distractions than upgrading older buildings. · If a new school is built, the region may be able to squeeze another 50 years out of it. How many years will it get from expanding a 50 or 75-year-old school? DAVID HARRIS BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com Bylaw needed to regulate fireworks I cannot understand how the Town of Oakville would allow fireworks in residential areas. You would think that the Town could designate special locations for fireworks displays in a controlled and manageable location. Again, on Victoria Day evening at 11:30 p.m., there were kids running through the forested green space shooting Roman candles at each other. Last year, our house was under fire from Roman candles again. There should be a bylaw that ensures these fireworks are in a safe and controlled location. It is not reasonable to have the police on standby for these occurrences (I am sure they get called out to many of these random neighbourhood displays). Why do we have to wait for a serious accident before there are changes to how we handle fireworks in our community? Now, there is July 1 to look forward to this year. D. REILLY 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. Pud