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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday November 5, 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: NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER President Media Group Ltd. 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 A parent's nightmare We cannot imagine the depth of despair felt by the parents and relatives of missing 15-year-old Barrie, Ontario teen Brandon Crisp. The youth vanished Thanksgiving Monday following an argument with his parents stemming from Brandon's fixation with Xbox. He had been grounded because of his excessive use, said his dad, Steve Crisp. He says his son was losing sleep because he spent so much time playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, a warthemed shooting game. Like any parent, Steve did what he felt was necessary to curb his son's insatiable appetite for gaming. Like any parent, we are sure Steve never believed for one moment his son would disappear without a trace. Despite reported sightings by the public, there have been no definitive clues as to the youth's whereabouts. Police are still looking into the teen's contacts in his Xbox world -- many of whom are registered in the United States. A $50,000 reward is being offered for Brandon's return, with $10,000 each from Metroland Media Group Ltd. and Rogers, $5,000 from Child Save and $25,000 from Microsoft. The Barrie Advance, the Oakville Beaver's sister newspaper, has more than professional interest in this story; Brandon's mom works at the Advance. Metroland is an extended family and staffers from across the company have joined Brandon's parents in the search for their son. Many of those same staffers are parents, too, and have probably shuddered inwardly knowing that it could just have easily been one of their children who failed to come home. It is this newspaper's hope to have parents use this editorial in opening lines of communication with their children and teens -- especially if it involves excessive use of computers or cellphones. Discuss with them what happened to this Barrie family and the anguish felt by an entire community. We would love nothing better than to see Brandon returned safely to his parents and that others never have to experience such pain again. 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 Empty barracks housing could help families in crisis As the recipient of the 2008 Athena Oakville Award, I would like to thank the Athena Committee, and the Oakville Beaver for your coverage of the award. The Athena Award, in part, recognizes my efforts as a co-founder of Home Suite Hope in giving voice and help to the people of our community who become homeless and establishing transitional housing for families in crisis. Home Suite Hope's housing enables people to live in dignity through a time of turmoil, in order to re-establish stability in their own community. As our many successful graduates attest, Home Suite Hope exists for this one simple reason: to give people in a housing crisis the space and the support to rebuild and reshape their lives with dignity. It is somewhat ironic that being recognized for championing families in a housing crisis is applauded at the same time as there are Oakville Beaver news stories that the Town of Oakville may in some way object to the temporary use of the long-abandoned Department of National Defence houses at the Oakville barracks to house families in transition. Home Suite Hope is not involved in these properties. However, to continue the ongoing travesty of these homes sitting empty, as many of them have for many years now, is not right. We all benefit when we actively support families in crisis. This temporary housing can help people in need, now, while the Town process unfolds, and our politicians seek a development plan for the eventual best use of the lands. We are told that this process could be three to five years, as the development plan is being thought through and prepared, and the necessary approvals are sought. To continue to have our federal dollars invested in homes that sit empty, simply makes no sense to me. They are sorely needed by families in crisis, and the Region plan to make use of them as temporary transitional housing should be welcomed as a good use of our federal assets, and supported. WENDY PERKINS This week's poll Pud The Oakville Beaver has a polling feature on its website oakvillebeaver.com. A new poll will be posted every BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com Wednesday with the results of the poll published in the following Wednesday edition of The Oakville Beaver. This week's question is: Do you support Oakville Transit's 25-cent fare increase on Jan. 1 to $3 for an adult cash fare? · Yes · No To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com Last week's poll: Do you support a ban on the use of cellphones and other electronic gadgets while driving? · Yes 73.68% · No 26.32% Total votes: 19 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.