The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday December 3, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 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: NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER President Media Group Ltd. 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 Canada deserves better In the midst of an economic crisis, such as the one we currently face, Canadians should be able to look to their elected officials in Ottawa for leadership, ideas and action. Sadly, the current soap opera underway has revealed politicians -- from both sides of the House of Commons -- more intent on playing petty politics than looking out for the welfare of the constituents who elected them. Even worse, the actions of our federal officials in their battle for power will only deepen the current economic crisis for Canadians as any sense of government stability has all but vanished. Finger pointing, a national sport in Ottawa, has reached an all-time low, but it is clear there is plenty of blame to go around. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, fresh off an election in which he gained a strengthened minority government, vowed to work more closely with Opposition parties for the betterment of all Canadians. He lied. In his first statement on the economy since the election, Harper introduced a plan devoid of any solid economic stimulus, but did include a cut to taxpayer subsidies for political parties -- a move clearly designed to gut the Liberals and NDP. It was unnecessary and certainly was not an issue of urgent concern to Canadians. That horrendous political miscalculation provided the impetus for the Liberals and NDP to consider forming a coalition under the pretext of having no confidence in the Tories and their plans for the economy. Canadians, though, did not vote for a coalition in October. Voters soundly rejected Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and his own party was in the process of choosing his successor -- a competition already fraught with nasty in-fighting. The NDP drew less than half the popular vote of the Tories and won 106 fewer seats. To top it off, it is only with the support of a party intent on destroying the Confederation of Canada, the Bloc Quebecois, that the Liberals and NDP can wrest power from the Tories. Canadians should not support this threeheaded monster. All MPs should work toward bringing forth a sound infrastructure-driven economic stimulus plan that, in co-operation with the provinces, gets people working, protects seniors, aids the manufacturing sector and boosts consumer confidence. If that requires some politicians losing face and the formation of an all-party economic strategy committee, so be it. Canadians deserve much better government than they have been getting. 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 I have been following the latest political gyrations with the greatest of interest. I find that a lot of the comments being submitted to the media are missing one key ingredient, that being that the Conservatives did not win a majority and in our parliamentary system that means that Prime Minister Stephen Harper must have the support of the majority in the House, i.e. the Conservative plus one of the other parties to remain in power. His sheer lack of political insight and his poor political judgment in thinking that the Harper's arrogance may prove downfall Liberals were down for the count, in addition to his lack of understanding the action that Canadians want to see from their leaders in these uncertain economic times, clearly demonstrates that Harper is unfit to continue to lead. He should also be sent an e-mail telling him that it is within the rights of the Opposition to form a coalition to run the affairs of this great country. Arrogance is alive and well and resides in the residence at 24 Sussex Dr. DAVID EVERITT Oakville hospital staff should be commended It is unfortunate that Wayne DeCou had an unpleasant experience at OTMH (Emergency Room visit was a night to forget, Oakville Beaver, Nov. 29) Obviously, the hospital has responded to the concerns expressed. On two occasions in 2008, I brought friends to emergency and did not have the same type of experience. In one case, the individual remained in emergency until the next afternoon, then had life-saving emergency surgery and spent nine days in hospital. In the second case, the individual had an irreversible condition and passed away after 11 days in the hospital. In both cases, the staff provided timely quality, compassionate care and service. I believe that OTMH is working hard to overcome the difficulties presented under the pressure of a burgeoning population and I believe they should be commended for their continuing efforts. BARBARA DUBRULE This week's poll The Oakville Beaver has a polling feature on its website oakvillebeaver.com. A new poll will be posted every Wednesday with the results of the poll published in the following Wednesday edition of The Oakville Beaver. This week's question is: Would you support a federal Liberal-NDP coalition government? · Yes · No To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com Last week's poll: In light of the current economic uncertainty, do you feel your job is secure? · Yes 38.89% · No 61.11% Total votes: 18 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 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. Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com