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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday March 12, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 905-632-4440 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: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher 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 Reaching out to gay teens Adolescence is complicated at the best of times for teens struggling to make their way in the world. Are they doing well in school? Do they have a career path? Are they meeting their parents' expectations? Do they have a good circle of friends? Are they healthy? Are they happy? Are they having trouble dealing with their own sexual identity? And if they are, is there someone or a group they can turn to for love and guidance? On the front page of today's Living section, you will read about a remarkable Burlington couple that is working hard to ensure that gay youth feel embraced -- not ostracized -- by their community. Bob and Joanne Stacey understand the realities of what it is like for a gay teen growing up in a `straight' world. Their son Brock is gay. When he told his mom and dad, the Staceys quickly realized that their son's sexuality also had a profound impact on their family. "When a kid comes out, the dynamics of the family, your siblings, your parents, your grandparents, your neighbours -- it messes them up," Joanne said. "People thought we should have kicked (Brock) out." After her son told the family, she said the family lost several friends, and she uses that term loosely. The couple also received anonymous e-mails containing hateful messages and hurtful slurs. For such a forward-thinking and educated region as Halton, it is both surprising and sad that some people still cannot accept others for who they are. Bob is a longtime football coach and a physical education teacher at Nelson High School. He discovered the students at his school were far more accepting than the community as a whole. "Even though they accepted (Brock at school), this isn't a community where it's accepted," he acknowledged. It's 2008 and we still can't openly embrace all of its citizens? Through this story and two others to be published this week, the Beaver hopes to enlighten its readers to the unique set of challenges gay youth and their families face in an environment that can be cold and unfriendly. 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 Isn't it time for the Town of Oakville to become a city? Pssssst-- Don't tell anyone, but Oakville is a city. Why oh why do we insist on pretending that Oakville is a town? According to the City Population of Canada website, in 2006 Oakville was the 11th largest city by population in 2006 with 165,613 residents. Burlington was the 12th largest city by population in 2006 with 164,413 residents. Now we all know a city is a city in Ontario once it has attained a population of 100,000 residents. It has been some time, quite a few years in fact, when Oakville attained city status by population. So why won't we call ourselves a city? Are we afraid that if our "town" is called a city crime will increase? Will drug use, burglary, prostitution, auto theft and graffiti become unmanageable? Will our population skyrocket? Will sky scrapers suddenly pop up like mushrooms after a rain? No of course not. Part of the problem is that The Oakville Beaver enables the town-ites by saying "town" when referring to the City of Oakville, every chance they get. For example the article on page 3 of The Oakville Beaver, March 7 edition exclaims Town ready to do battle with gypsy moths. In the article, the word "Town" is used 10 times. Now calling one thing something else doesn't make it so. As Dr. Phil says, "You can put kittens in the oven, but it don't make them biscuits." So let's shed our town-centric attitude and call our city a city. Let's embrace our city. Let's be proud of Oakville and our emerging city status. Perhaps a new motto: "Oakville, The Pretty little City on the Lake." STEVE EDGAR Editor's note: We still prefer the "Biggest little town in Canada," but let's hear from our readers. Which do you prefer: The City of Oakville or The Town of Oakville? Send your comments to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com Good Samaritans aren't snowed under In this winter of seemingly never-ending snowfalls and tales of misfortune I feel prompted to acknowledge three Good Neighbours, two of them "Junior Seniors." They live on a short backwater section of Victoria Street in Bronte, which must be one of the last to receive the attention of the town's snow plows. Of the 11 homes on our street, six are occupied by seniors, and this winter, the three above mentioned residents have used their snow blowers to frequently clear the other seniors driveways and windrows left by the town plows. Without the work of these Good Samaritans we would really have had a difficult time. They are deeply appreciated. A great big thanks to Ken, Mike and Wayne. D. ADAM 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 416340-1981. 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.