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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday June 28, 2000 T h e O a k v il l e B eaver OPINION RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspaper* Association THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Y y m c a Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver .Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crazier Circulation Director Ten Casas Office Manager Mark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director o f Photography M etrOand P rirtn g . P u ttstw ig & D istrtxibng U d.. ndudes: A*ax/FV*enng News Advertiser. A ftston H e ra ld Courier. A rthur Enterprise News. Bame Advance. BanyS Bay This W eek. Bolton Enterprise. Bram pton G uardan. B u rlin g to n P o st. B u rlin g to n S h o p p in g N ew s. C ity P arent. CoIngwoocVW asaga Connection. East 'fo rk M rror. Erin A dvocate'C ouitry R o u te s. E to b ic o k e G u a rd ia n . F iam borough P o st. G eorgetow n Independent/Acton Free Press. Hamston Reviaw. 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Canadian Community f *C N A Newspapers V Za Association Newspapers of America S K \ Suburban ^°TTiP THE BRONTE BUTTERFLY TV AUCTION AnTTinii U ni,' dW 8» ol Oakville CMmta © 'Tihe _ JPLoard (Oakville (^hoards FOB BUSINESS EXCELLENCE C fo /M f in d ONTARI O or|oa>yiu town | oakville galleries | me Children's Choir P C H VB U B b E S tC T H E A F T S E d it o r ia ls The Longest Day The re su lts o f the C anadian A lliance Party leadership contest Saturday must have disappointed party executives. The CBC decided to give the leadership contest the full treatment on te le v is io n , c o m p le te w ith P e te r Look for Long to pick up Mansbridge and a cast of supporting play where he left off ers that probably outnumbered the people on the convention floor. somewhere in the It was more than a little bizarre to see Premier' s office, hopefully fo rm e r R efo rm P arty le a d e r P resto n without bringing his M anning standing on stage, unwilling to exit the contest gracefully to his opponent, offspring in to work. Stockwell Day. F or real p o litical ju n k ies, one had to cringe as the great Ontario hope, Tom Long, brought in his newborn child into the convention hall before making his concession speech. That had to be one of the tackiest moments on televised political coverage. L ook fo r L ong to pick up w here he left o ff som ew here in the Prem ier's office, hopefully without bringing his offspring in to work. So we have to endure ju st two more weeks before we know who Canadian Alliance supporters will have as their leader. M anning's only hope, as he addressed Saturday, is to have the almost 50 per cent of those members who didn't bother to vote, to come out and su p p o rt him the second tim e around. T h a t's w ishful thinking for Manning who didn't show well in Ontario and whose inability to speak French is regarded as a major stumbling block for a party with national ambitions. The poor turnout for Alliance, which dubs itself as the party of inclu sion, has to make some of the party brass wonder how many of those non-voters actually exist. It should all make for an interesting final vote. Look for a Day victory. Letters to the Editor The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Re: "Teens in Oak Park area creating havoc " -- Letters to the Editor, O akville Beaver, June 14th, 2000 There was a party in Oak Park on June 3rd. It did involve teens, underage drinking, and unruly behaviour. I know this because it started in my house. With my wife and I away for the n ight, our 17-year-old remained home due to work com m itm ents. T he ev en ing, after work, she inarguably went on to make several very poor, uncharac teristic decisions. What started off as an im prom ptu gathering of ab out a dozen o f her school friends, quickly grew into some thing else. As midnight approached and more kids showed up, it was clear the word was out, however, more troubling was the arrival of com plete strangers -- older, unwant ed, uninvited and threatening. The house was im m ediately shut down, forcing everyone into the street. H eated w ords were exchanged betw een several youths, things got physical, and bottles were thrown. Thankfully, the police arrived not long after and ended the conflict as quickly as it had started. The next day, our daughter, extremely upset by the incident, met with our surrounding neigh Oak Park incident was a one-time event bours, apologizing and assured them this would never be repeat ed. The gesture was met with kindness and understanding. She listened as our neighbour friends related similar accounts involving themselves or their children, and how teen parties can turn ugly, particularly when crashed by vio lent outsiders looking for trouble. One especially close neighbour of ours, close in proxim ity and friendship, along with his family, really helped our teen in coming to grips with what had happened. They had, in fact, also been there the night before, helping and try ing to make sure no one got hurt. For that, my wife and I are grate ful. R egardless of the circum stances, I'm not writing to defend or deflect blam e. There is ho defense for what happened and we as a family, make no excuses, and accept total responsibility. To any and all affected neighbours we have not spoken with person ally, please accept our sincere apologies. On the other hand, I do have another problem. I take strong issue on several levels, with a related commentary appearing in the June 14th Oakville Beaver, that offers a rendition o f the evening from the perspective of a Gord Brennan, a neighbour I have never met, nor spoken with. I object to his portrayal of my child's friends and to the teen and Oak Park community at large, and Letter of the W eek Retiring teacher welcomes student updates I am retiring after 31 years of teaching elementary school in Toronto and Oakville. However, I am of two minds -- one which wants to stay and one that knows it's time to go. I am proud to be a teacher. I consider myself lucky to have taught many fine young peo ple over the years and had the good fortune to work with many Pud 'SCHOOL'S' m m ! also to inferences made toward my household. I also take issue with Mr. Brennan's insinuation that his views are, in any way, shared w ithin my im m ediate Re: Powerful questions editorial, June 16, 2000 neighbourhood. Finally, I would (Oakville Beaver) also like to draw attention to some of the scurrilous comments that As an employee of the electric power industry for may have clouded, confused, and nearly 40 years between 1953 and 1992 of which even alarmed readers. th e la s t 25 y e a rs w ere in C a n a d a , I re a d the Right off the top, there is refer `Pow erful Q u estio n s' editorial with considerable ence to a gunshot. I can imagine interest. how a thrown bottle, popping, as While I agree that there are drawbacks to consid it striked the road could sound ering solar energy as a large scale replacem ent for like a gun going off -- to some electrical energy produced by fossil and nuclear one hiding under their bed. But power plants, I disagree with your suggestion that seriously, does anyone believe, if wind energy could be a viable alternative. there was even the slig h test At a presentation to the Ottawa Canadian Club on chance a gun was fired at anytime in the community that evening, April 18th, 2000, the president and CEO of Atomic our police would simply order Energy o f Canada Limited, Allen Kirkpatrick, stated everyone to disperse and then that 40,000 wind generators w ould be needed to leave without further investiga meet the electrical energy demands o f the City of How can a dem ocratically than teach the required amount of tion? I certainly hope not. I have Toronto and that these wind generators would cover elected government even consider time. Many of them do their les since spoken with several teens an area eq u a l to fo u r tim es th e a rea o f P rin ce passing legislation as undemocra son preparation, m arking and and neighbours at the scene that Edward Island. How big an area is this and if locat tic as the proposed Education report w riting at home. They evening, who all have confirmed ed in southern Ontario, what amount of land would Accountability Act. coach, rehearse plays and con the noise was that of breaking it cover? What good is a contract if only certs, meet with parents, take stu bottles. one party has to abide by it? That dents on trips, give extra help My Canadian Facts booklet gives the area of PEI As for the "anim al house," is not my understanding of a con before and after school and super "main depot," where these parties as 5,660 sq. kms. Four times this is 22,640 sq. kms. tract. And why bother having a vise playgrounds and lunchrooms. are said to take place "regularly," as a square having sides of just over 150 kms. Such vote if you can be punished and They have a very demanding and if Mr. Brennan is referring to my a square would require a base along the shore of lose your job for voting against stressful job and have earned the home or anyone around me for Lake O ntario stretching from B urlington Bay to what the government wants? This right to be treated with the same that matter, he must live in a par Cobourg and as far north as Bracebridge! And these certainly smacks of dictatorship. dignity and respect as every other allel universe because they just wind generators would not supply the `905 Area' of Teachers already do far more working person. don't happen. And stating they H am ilton o r o th er tow ns and c itie s in so u th ern Irene Wedeles occur "every summer, at least Ontario. Hence my disagreem ent with you that wind seven to 10 times," there must be generators are a viable alternative to the present fos some obscure bizarre science sil fired and nuclear electricity generating stations. behind the assembly of those sta fine educators. We all have tried to colleagues I have worked with dur David B a rb e r tistics. Those I have spoken with ing my year's teaching in Oakville do the best we could with what we agree it does, however, speak to at Gladys Speers, Eastview, New were given and I think we have the general cred ib ility o f the Central, and W.H. Morden. succeeded pretty well. information. The story proceeds Best wishes, photographs, U nfortunately, with the with more dramatic images of increased demands of the job and memories, or updates would be "guns." "battleground for gangs Re: M PPs'salaries advancing old-age, I think this is a welcome. of unruly teens," personal fear of It is p re su m p tu o u s fo r M PPs to c o m p are th e ir Please contact me at: P.O. Box good time to move on to other being "terrorized" or "shot." As a salaries to that of engineers, lawyers, and secondary 60028, R.P.O. Glen Abbey, challenges. friend and mentor of my daughter school principals. They obviously think highly of them I would very much like to hear Oakville, ON L6M 3H2. com m ented, "perhaps Mr. selves (with so little evidence, if I may add). J. Ross from students I have taught and (S e e `T e e n s ' p a g e A 7 ) The com parison of M PPs' salaries to the highest paid professional, is a manipulative strategy to justify a by Steve Nease two digit increase for themselves. MPPs get more holi days, benefits, pensions and perks than the "average" taxpayer working in the private sector. If we compare i 'm g o n n a s e t I M GONNA G E T^ ' p a r e n t have a w a y ' MPPs' wages to homecare workers, skilled tradesmen, MY BOOMBOX, A COLD DRINK, OF RUINING PERFBT-Y firefighters, nurses, law enforcem ent officers, peace I'tA G O N N A G o o d s u m m e r P tA N s. I'M GONNA SET keepers, autoworkers, or small business owners, their cu rren t w ages should stack up p retty good. T hese G E T C D 'S*/ te n r A,LAWN CHAIR, "other" professionals are the backbone of our country I M GONNA S E T -. and seldom get the recognition they deserve. Does the Harris government believe they should be rewarded for doing what most taxpayers do every day? (Balance our household budget.) Give us a break! If MPPs can afford a pay raise, they can afford to restore healthcare, education, and support programs for the "needy." Take what you NEED... any more is GREED. K athie Anderson W in d p o w e r n o t v ia b le h e r e A c c o u n ta b ility A c t n o n s e n s e MPPs don' t need pay hike