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A 6 - The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday, S ep tem ber 25, 2002 T H EO A K V IL L EB E A V E R Recognized for Excellence by -- '1 Ontario Community Newspapers Association E D IT O R IA L SA N DL E T T E R S IAN OLIVER Publisher NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher TERI CASAS Office Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief STEVE CROZIER Circulation Director MARK DILLS Production Manager ROD JERRED Managing Editor KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director RIZ1ER0 VERTOLU Photography Director 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 337-5610 Circulation: 845-9742 Metroiand Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd.. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, AJIiston Herald/Courier. Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Barry's Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise, Brampton Guardian. Burlington Post. Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror. Erin Advocate/Country Routes. Etobicoke Guardian. Flamborough Post. 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City of York Guardian THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL M EDIA SPONSOR FOR: 6· ' Canadian Community Newspapers Association SassS 0 TV* GSfoUte ®4nm8s FOR BUSINESS EXCELLENCE WELCOME^t W AG Q N u, " r Smat 1930 fte ta v For (He [o a k v ille g a lle rie s l The Oakville, Milton and District Jinge BeUFund S K *4 Suburban Newspapers of America C /u6F F iruF most Off to the races Ontario's unofficial election race began in earnest this w eek w ith the return of MPs to Q ueen's Park after their sum m er break. With an election likely to be held before next summer, the selling o f the three main parties (we're stretch ing it including the NDP here) - and their leaders - will heat up during the com ing months. For Prem ier Ernie Eves and the Tories, the task is simple: continue to show the public the Tories are still the best m oney m anagers o f the three parties, but are kinder and gen tler than they w ere under M ike Harris. Eves, to his credit, has pulled his party into a virtual dead heat with the Liberals in the latest polls (42 per cent to 44 according to an IpsosReid poll in late August) after earlier surveys show ed the Tories fading fast from the political radar. E ves, w ho also has a higher approval rating than Liberal Leader Dalton M cGuinty, can take com fort in the fact 59 per cent o f those polled said the E ves' governm ent was on the "right track." However, w ith threatened teacher strikes, soaring hydro prices, and an ailing health care system (to name just three issues) the Eves' govern m ent is in both the public's and opposition's cross hairs. How the Tories deal with this fall's report on the education funding form ula and other problem s will play a large role in their fortunes com e election time. F or M cGuinty and the Liberals, it is crucial they offer palpable alterna tives to Tory policies and not vague prom ises. McGuinty, in particular, m ust sell him self as prem ier m aterial, som e thing he failed to do even w hen the public's distaste for the Tories was at its peak. Locally, it appears the Liberals will use the environm ent as their ace in the hole to challenge the Tories. W ith urban sprawl, gridlock and air pollution in the forefront o f many O akville residents these days, it may be ju st enough to tip the scales for the Liberals. The prize is up for grabs; may the best candidate (and party) win. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Shelter meeting worthwhile I think the Oakville Beaver missed an important aspect of the story that developed from the dis cussion groups at the Thursday night's meeting. Yes, there were extreme views, but the extremes came from both sides of the issue. There was clear ly some residual anger coming from a few of the residents. I large ly attribute that to the mistakes made earlier in the process - the attempt to identity a site and then sell a need. There were clearly some City of Toronto activists whose goal was to try and shame people to accept a particular point of view. I believe a true consensus was beginning to form with the majori ty of the people who attended the meeting. For example, my discussion group consisted of an interesting and diverse mix of people. A fami ly lawyer and a self proclaimed poverty activist from Toronto. A not-for-profit housing manger. Two other citizens at large. And myself, a citizen at large. There are two issues (a) imme diate need and (b) future need for emergency housing in Halton. Future need: Addressing this problem was easier, simply desig nate enough "affordable housing" when developing plans for future growth. If we can set aside land for parks and schools, why not set aside land for affordable housing. Immediate need: This was much more difficult because it involves retro fitting existing com munities with emergency shelters. But again there was consensus that was achieved to varying degrees. The Need: Alter reviewing the statistics provided by the Region of Halton and the Lighthouse's past experience. The need was generally accepted as being three client groups: women, men and youth. The Proposed Facility: There was a very clear consensus that three or four small facilities is a much better model for providing services, one for women, one for men and one for youth. This was deemed better because each facili ty could then specialize their pro grams and counseling to each client group's needs. It was also accepted that is preferable to keep youth and women's facilities separate from adult men's facilities. (For safety issues, this is a standard practice in the shelter business.) It was gener ally agreed that a facility for men poses specific challenges and thus do not belong in residential areas. However, a problem was iden tified with the specialized model. This problem centered over the nature of funding. Larger and more general facilities like the one being proposed have a lower oper ating cost and service providers are paid by a head count and not by the bed. An interesting thought would be to use existing facilities, build additional beds and expand their mandate. For example, there should be no reason why a shelter for battered women could not be expanded with more beds and their mandate be broadened to include women in need of housing who are not fleeing violence. Site selection: There was some consensus regarding this issue. The size of the facility should determine and match the location. A 15,000-sq.-ft. building with 40 beds should not be located in an area of single family homes. Access to regularly running public transit was deemed essential. Facilities that house men should not be located in residential areas. Overall, I thought it was a pos itive experience and I am glad I had an opportunity to participate. RUSS PFEIFER Cartoon was insulting As a frequent visitor and patron of Oakville businesses, I was extremely disappointed in the theme and tone of the Editorial page in the Sept. 18 issue o f the Oakville Beaver. 1 firmly support the principle of "free speech." Therefore, I acknowl edge the rights of your cartoonist and the writer of " the letter of the week", Glen Herring, to express their sentiments regarding our Prime Minister's recent address to the General Assembly of the United Nations. However, I found the cartoon car icature of Jean Chretien addressing the U.N. and its message " we don't understand him, either" as offensive. Firstly, to the Office of Prime Minister, secondly, a personal insult to a person with a physical handicap, and thirdly, the attempt to "sweep under the rug" the very issue that is at the core of a very serious world problem, namely, "economic imbal ance and world power struggle." What the cartoon and Herring's letter demonstrated to me was a complete ignorance of international affairs, as viewed by the majority of the world's population. This lack of awareness may be occasioned by a sometimes sole reliance on American news sources and a failure to understand, and even learn, the principles which the United Nations was founded to uphold. I am not a whole-hearted support er of Chretien or his government but, on this very important occasion, I applaud him for having the courage to speak out on the root cause of many of the world's problems. LJ.Forsyth LETTER O F THE W EEK More voices needed to save public education I am a parent of a child who has a neurological disorder and learning disabilities. I used to think that the school would help us with support of an Educational Assistant, protect my child's self esteem, would have trained teachers who understood by child's disabilities. I had faith that the educational system would do their ' job. Boy was I wrong. It seemed there never was enough money to supply extra help for my child. It appeared the school just wanted my child to go away and not come back. At first it was overwhelming. There was tension between the school and myself because they were not helping. I was afraid to really make a lot of waves because I didn't want the school per sonnel to take out their opinions on my child. I was allowing myself and my son to become a victim of the educational system by not speaking out and getting the assistance he needed. I had a choice to either continue on allowing the system not to provide services to help my son or stand up for my son's rights for an education, which would best suit my son's needs. So I fought back. You know what, the school system started to take notice. We were no longer being bullies by the education system and started getting more assistance for my child. It is time for all of Halton to speak up and tell the Minister of Education, the Halton boards of education, and our MPP that we as Halton residents will not take anymore budget cuts. The gov ernment decided to integrate special needs students into the edu cational system, but neglected to provide the tools (properly trained teachers in different exceptionalities, child and youth work ers to help aggressive children, speech and language teachers, edu cational staff sensitive to the feelings of special needs children, etc.). If our special needs students don't get an education so they can independently live on their own as adults, they will only receive from the government $708, if living at home, or $930 a month liv ing on their own. There would be no money left for food, clothes, etc. These amounts are well below the poverty line. Is this what parents of children with special needs want for their child? Is this what our Halton community wants for children with special needs? Instead of providing the proper education with assistance they require, the Halton community will be paying for it later with crime, welfare, suicide, etc. Write and voice your concerns; what special help your child needs and is not getting; the effects it is having on your family and child. The Human Rights Commission doesn't even know if it has the necessary jurisdiction to overrule the Education Act. So many par ents are caught in a vicious circle and by the time everyone figures it out our own special needs students will already be out of school struggling for a living. Are you willing to allow your child to live in poverty as an adult? Don't let your child be a victim. Write to Elizabeth Witmer, Minister of Education, Mowat Block 900 Bay St.. Toronto, ON.. M7A 1L2, or phone: 416-3252929, fax: 416-325-2608, e-mail: elizabeth_witmer@ontla.ola.org. This is Halton's chance to make a difference in their communi ty and stand united. Make sure all children in Halton get the help they need for a good education and become valuable contributing members of our society as adults. I am only one voice. More voice are needed to tell this govern ment what we want. PAULYNE LACK Infrastructure needs repairing Over the last couple of weeks I have read with interest the comments from some people and their thoughts on the growth of Oakville. I have lived my whole life in Oakville and I also work in Oakville and I cannot believe the mess this town is in. Over the last 25 years the popula tion in this community has grown tremendously, it has gone from below 50.000 people to fast approaching 150.000 if not already over that. Yet with all of the homes and businesses being constructed, the Town has failed to build the necessary infra structure needed to give the inhabi tants of this community the quality of life that we pay for. There are roads in this town that were here before the building boom and haven't been widened/expanded to allow for the flow of traffic. It is no wonder that whenever there is a smog alert that Oakville always has one of, if not the highest, levels of pollution. I have read the debate over weed ing and feeding lawns in this commu nity and how people state they are being effected by the chemicals. But what about the air pollution that all of these idling vehicles spew into the air while they patiently or impatiently wait to get from point A to point B. Does the air pollution not also effect the water and the ground? Does it not effect the vegetation and the ability to clean pollution? When is the Corporation of the Town of Oakville and the people in charge of managing it going to start to being responsible and look after the taxpayers and vot ers and start fixing the mess this town is in? Maybe one way of getting start ed is to try and drive from south Oakville to north Oakville (or vice versa) during rush hour traffic, then see just how wonderful (?) this com munity has become. KEVIN RHYS P ud By STEVE NEASE Mo m saw that VIDEO OP THE LADY HITTING HER DAUGHTER IN THE PARKING L ot We want your opinions and comments The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published, letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Road, Oakville, On., L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish any letter.