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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, D ec em be r 1 5, 2 01 0 6 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 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. We are fortunate enough to live in a community where the majority of our children grow up without worrying too much about the basic necessities of life food, clothing and shelter. At this time of year, with the numerous food, cloth- ing and kettle drives, we are reminded this isnt the case for everyone. And sometimes it takes a child to remind us how much most of us are truly blessed. At Sundays dedication ceremony for Oakvilles first two Habit for Humanity homes, the children of the two young families were asked what they were looking for- ward to the most. One youngster was looking forward to having a win- dow in her room for the first time in four years. While the mother of one family was looking forward to providing stability for her children, her oldest son was looking forward to hanging in the backyard and watch- ing grass grow. His sister looked forward to inviting friends over to sleepovers and not feeling too embar- rassed to invite friends to their home. Oakville is not an island and there are those here who need help some 14,000 live below the poverty line. There are many who need that helping hand they could be us, a neighbour or a friend in need of assistance. What Habitat for Humanity provides for these people is a hand up not a hand out. The two single working mothers who were present- ed with ceremonial keys to the houses on Sunday were selected because they passed certain criteria and they have volunteered 500 hours of sweat-equity to Habitat for Humanity. They will also have to pay full market value of the house to Habitat Humanity through a 25-35-year mort- gage. This success story, however, would not have been possible without the help of community volunteers and generous donors. More than 850 volunteers contributed 7,000 hours towards the construction of Oakvilles Habitat for Humanity Halton homes. While there are too many sponsors to name, two platinum sponsors Genworth Financial Canada and Whirlpool Canada deserve recognition for their $100,000 donations. The Town of Oakville and Region of Halton also deserve accolades for their roles in making two surplus plots of land available to Habitat for Humanity. Many skeptics once scoffed at the idea of Habitat for Humanity Halton ever building a home in Oakville. After all, the organization had been operating in Halton since 1999 and had built 11 homes, but none in Oakville. Those skeptics have been silenced. Everyone involved in helping to build these two Oakville homes deserves congratulations. Heres hoping there are more to come. NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief 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 con- dition 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. Letter to the editorHelping hand up 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 Time to change Oakvilles ward map The Oakville Beaver is a division of Oakville hospital saved his life My name is Robin Reelis. I am 39 years old, a husband and a father of two beautiful kids. In August 2009 I was diagnosed with stage 3C colon cancer. My life instantly came crashing down. Immediately following the diag- nosis, my surgery was booked at Oakville0-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital to remove a softball-sized tumor in my colon. Dr. Qasim Khan with his heav- enly expertise removed the tumor with the help of Dr. Sayal. The cancer had already spread to my lymph nodes. Dr. Sayal hooked me up with the Juravinski Cancer Hospital in Hamilton and had me start aggressive chemotherapy as soon as my sur- gery healed. I am now proud to say I made it through chemo and am in remis- sion, enjoying life again and still here for my family. I owe my life to the surgical team and all the help I received from nurses to the volunteers at both Oakville hospital and the Juravinski Cancer Center. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart and am proud to live in Oakville. ROBIN REELIS, OAKVILLE 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 SARAH MCSWEENEY Circulation Manager DANIEL COLEMAN Regional Online Sales Manager In his inaugural speech last week, Mayor Rob Burton mentioned the need to address a longstanding and gross imbalance in represen- tation on our local council; notably, the propor- tion of voters in Ward 4 is far greater than their share of council representatives. Though 28 per cent of voters live in that ward they are represented by the same number of councillors as each of the other five wards; the next closest is Ward 5 with 18 per cent of the voters. In fact Ward 4 has more voters than do Wards 1 and 2 combined. We at the Halton chapter of Fair Vote Canada were pleased to hear the mayors call for reform. We hope that all council members will support efforts to correct the current demo- cratic deficit. Bronwen Bruch, Donna Chevrier, Brian Hopkins, Halton Chapter of Fair Vote Canada Our house has recently been sold, and the plants in the garden donated to the Town of Oakville. We have been most impressed with the staff and gardeners of the Town's Park and Open Space Department. They skillfully and diligently removed the plants and then replanted them in three Oakville parks. Their knowledge and care were commendable. We should be proud to have such professionalism in our Town of Oakville staff. BARBARA AND RICHARD BIRKETT, OAKVILLE Park staff great I would like to offer congratulations to Mayor Rob Burton on his re-election as mayor of Oakville and to thank him for his remarks at the opening council meeting. He mentioned that he has plans to tackle the inequalities in the existing ward design, pointing out that growth has not been aligned with representation on council. He noted that one ward, the northwest, is approaching nearly one third of the popula- tion, but has only one sixth of the representa- tion on council and promised that he will address this. These days it is refreshing to find an elected representative who not only listens to voters, but also indicates a willingness to act on what he hears. Fair Vote Halton is very much in support of a change that would rectify the inequalities in ward design and would be most interested in working with staff and council on rectifying the imbalance. TINA AGRELL, MEMBER AT LARGE, FAIR VOTE CANADA, HALTON CHAPTER Oakville has outgrown current ward system