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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, April 23, 2010 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 --Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends 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: Canadian Circulation Audit Board Member THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America Canadian Community Newspapers Association ATHENA Award NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of Media Group Ltd. DAVID HARVEY Regional 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 SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager V is for volunteer It may be the teenager who helps stock shelves at the local food bank. Perhaps it's the senior citizen who drives cancer patients for treatments in Toronto. It might be the college student running up and down the sidelines refereeing your child's soccer game. It might be a family planting a tree together. Maybe it's someone offering comfort to hospital patients, or the person cleaning up roadside ditches, or the Big Brother/Sister spending time with a youngster who has no father/mother figure. Volunteers come in all ages and passions, but there is something they all share in common -- a desire to make their community better. In all likelihood they don't even look at their efforts that way. They simply want to spend time lending a hand or improving something that needs help. The vast majority of volunteers aren't looking for credit or awards or applause or even a simple pat on the back. They just volunteer. With this week being National Volunteer Week we would like to add our voice to that of the Town and Region and other groups in saluting the efforts of all the volunteers who work tirelessly to make our community the special place it is. Much of the successes Oakville can boast can be directly attributed to the work of the thousands of people who, each year, roll up their sleeves and pitch in for any number of causes. It is these people, often operating behind the scenes and out of the limelight, that do the real work. For that, we say thank you. 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. Letter to the editor Premier should give Nanticoke power it wants Re: Barry Cuddy's April 9 letter on the proposed 900 megawatt Oakville power plant I disagree with many of Mr. Cuddy's comments. First, suggesting Oakville is not carrying its share of electricity generation responsibility is incorrect. Oakville is downwind from the recently-commissioned 600 megawatt Georgetown gas-fired power plant at Hwy. 401/Trafalgar Road. The need for this additional 900 megawatt power plant, as Mr. Cuddy suggests, is not created by the electric power demands of Oakville Hydro alone. This new power plant is required to support the Manby transmission line. This line runs from the Ford plant to Hwy. 427/QEW, along the GO train tracks. The most power Oakville Hydro has ever used from the Manby transmission line is about 100 megawatts. The remaining 800 megawatts go to the Ford assembly plants, Mississauga and Etobicoke. Mr. Cuddy states Oakville's electricity consumption will grow from 350 megawatts to 480 megawatts, but fails to mention the electricity consumption growth figures for Mississauga or Etobicoke. I would guess both are projecting similar growth. Why was the current Ford property selected for this 900 megawatt power plant? There are 16 schools and 5,000 homes within two kilometres of this proposed site. You cannot install a wind turbine at this location because, due to recent provincial regulation, it is too close to homes, schools and businesses. How about the Lakeview site in See Acceptance page 11 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@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Hospitals and power plants don't mix Re: Green light for power plant at new hospital, Oakville Beaver, April 14. I was amazed when I read that my town had approved the rezoning of lands, right beside the new hospital and close to existing and future homes, to allow a natural gas power plant to be built by Oakville Hydro (which the Town owns). Citizens for Clean Air (C4CA) signs specifically state that power plants do not mix with homes and schools. The C4CA website warns that buffer zones are needed and are supporting Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn's private member's bill to put 1,500 meter buffer zones between homes and power plants. Mayor Rob Burton attended the Queen's Park rally with C4CA and said power plants do not belong near homes and schools. Please let residents know that they can contact c4bufferzones@gmail.com if they don't want a power plant beside their homes and new hospital with a 100-foot stack spewing PM2.5 over the patients and visitors. JOHN S. KAY, OAKVILLE MAYORAL CANDIDATE BY STEVE NEASE neasecartoons@gmail.com Pud