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w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER W e dn es da y, A ug us t 2 5, 2 01 0 6 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends The Oakville Beaver Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. OPINION & LETTERS 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@oakville- beaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Did Oakville MPP Kevin Flynns opposition to the location of TransCanadas 900-megawatt gas-fired power plant on Royal Windsor Drive in southeast Oakville cost him an Ontario Cabinet position? When Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty shuffled his cabinet on Aug. 18, we thought the promotion of Flynn from parliamentary assistant to Cabinet Minister was an obvious omission. Although the deck was reshuffled a bit, no one was dropped and two new recently elected Liberals were added to the cabinet - former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli and former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray, who joined the caucus earlier this year. While we have nothing against the two new mem- bers, we cant help but wonder why Flynn keeps get- ting overlooked. Flynn is in his second term and seventh year as an MPP. He is currently serving as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education and has served as a parliamentary secretary to the ministries of Energy, Labour and Democratic Renewal. Prior to joining the provincial government, Flynn served as an Oakville town and Halton regional coun- cillor for 18 years. As far as political experience goes, he would seem to have enough to serve as an Ontario Cabinet Minister. From what weve witnessed over the years, as an Oakville councillor and MPP, Flynn has been approachable, knowledgeable, a tireless worker and not afraid to speak his mind. Which makes us wonder whether the latter quality may have caused him to be ignored in the latest Cabinet shuffle. The premier may have done Flynn and Oakville a favour, though. As a cabinet minister we wonder whether Flynn could have continued to be critical of the TransCanada plant in Oakville. When he was the a parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Energy, Flynn said he couldnt express his opinion about the Oakville plant due to a conflict of interest. We would assume a Cabinet Minister would be sim- ilarly handcuffed from speaking out against the site. After all, if C4CA and the Town of Oakville are suc- cessful in delaying the construction of the facility indefinitely, it may take an order from the Ontario Cabinet to push the controversial plant through. Now that would definitely pose a conflict, if Flynn was a Cabinet Minister. Media Group Ltd. The Oakville Beaver is a division of NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional 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 SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager 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 typo- graphical 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. Letter to the editorPassed over again THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENAAward THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIALMEDIASPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Canadian CirculationAudit Board Member Canadian CommunityNewspapers AssociationOntario CommunityNewspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America Re: Summer stroll turns up six pack of coy- otes, Oakville Beaver, Aug. 18 Is it really still news that coyotes live in and around the Oakville area? I, for one, am grow- ing tired of the series of articles describing coy- ote sightings (sightings mind you, not attacks) in the Oakville Beaver. The general theme of the articles has not changed over the past few months and inevitably involves an Oakville resident who is shocked and terrified to see a coyote living in their neighbourhood (a.k.a. the coyotes natural habitat that we humans continue to take over). While I appreciate the fact that reporters make the attempt to contact and quote wildlife experts, I am disheartened that the title and crux of these stories are focused on the accounts of individuals, who clearly have a poor under- standing of wildlife and environmental sustain- ability. Its amazing to me that people buy homes along ravines because they want to live in nature, yet in the same breath, condemn one of the integral parts of our local ecosystem. You may love seeing a cute bunny rabbit hoping across your yard or deer grazing in a nearby field, but imagine what will happen if we continue to force natural predators out of the area out of greed, fear or ignorance. An inadequate predator population will result in the overpopulation/starvation of prey species and mass habitat destruction. Wildlife, in Oakville, includes everything from microscopic organisms to predators, such as hawks and coyotes. If you dont like that fact or cant respect or share our natural spaces with all wildlife, move to an apartment in downtown Toronto. Listen to the experts; coyotes do not hunt or attack humans. If you come face to face with coyote, which I have on a number of occasions, raise and wave your arms (to give the impres- sion of size) and they will leave you alone. Do not turn and run away as fast as you can, imitat- ing typical prey behaviour before a predator. That is as fool hardy as running through a leash free dog park. SARA MCCORMICK, OAKVILLE Squirrels, rabbits and coyotes, oh my! WHATS THIS?: Last Thursday we published a picture of this critter taken by Laura Sharp in Lakeside park at Lake Ontario.We asked readers to help iden- tify the mystery animal and they responded. We were boaters in Bronte long before the Town put in their retain- ing wall. When Metro Marine had wooden docks, these critters ran under the docks and swam in the creek. In the heavy fur days of the 50's and 60's - these critters were the poor man's Mink - made famous in Song by Captain and Tennilles Muskrat Love. Thanks for the picture Laura - Glad to see they survived their dis- placement. MIRA HELLMANN,OAKVILLE Its a muskrat The photo taken by Laura Sharp is of a Mink. They are residents of Ontario, and I have seen them myself in Sixteen Mile Creek and by the lake. DONNA SHEPPARD,OAKVILLE Its a mink The animal in the photograph taken by Laura Sharp of an animal that she and her son saw in Lakeside Park could possibly be a 'Fisher. It hunts small animals, will sometimes eat mushrooms and fruit, and also attacks porcupine. It is active year- round. BRENDA JOHNSON,BRONTE Its a fisher We have seen it also.. and we believe it is a weasel. Let us know if the experts confirm. NIGEL SOUTHWAY, OAKVILLE Its a weasel