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w w w .i n si d eH A LT O N .c o m O A K V IL LE B EA V ER Fr id ay , S ep te m be r 9, 2 01 1 6 467 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 The Oakville Beaver Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver is a division of NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West 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 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 typo- graphical 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 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. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENA Award THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Canadian Circulation Audit Board Member Canadian Community Newspapers Association Ontario Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America There was a big bus in front of Kevin Flynn's office with "Firefighters for McGuinty" painted all over it on Tuesday night. Firefighters' salaries and benefits and pensions are paid for out of the public purse. Do we give the firefighters the right to endorse their political party favorites? This is a little different than the CBC supporting the Liberals on the backs of the taxpaying Canadian citizens. The firefighters have put up a billboard- type ad on a bus. As a taxpayer, I pay them to fight fires, not to campaign for the Liberals or any other political party. K. Anderson, Oakville Don't target public sector salaries Twenty-seven days. Thats how long the candidates vying to win the jobs of Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for the ridings of Oakville and Halton have to convince you they are the best person to be your voice at Queens Park. While we certainly dont expect many voters to take that long in determining which candidate will receive their vote, we do encourage everyone eligible to cast a ballot to do so and to spend some time learning about all the candidates. That is the only way to make an informed choice. Sadly, in 2007, Ontario saw a record-low voter turnout (52.6 per cent). In this election, nine candidates have put their names forward in the two ridings where Oakville resi- dents will help elect MPPs on Thursday, Oct. 6. In Oakville, the race involves Kevin Flynn (Liberal), Larry Scott (Progressive Conservative), Lesley Sprague (NDP) and Andrew Chlobowski (Green Party). In Halton, incumbent MPP Ted Chudleigh (Progressive Conservative), Indira Naidoo-Harris (Liberal), Nik Spohr (NDP), Karen Fraser (Green Party) and Tony Rodrigues (Family Coalition). All of these candidates are to be commended for wanting to serve the people of these ridings and put in the hard work that an election campaign entails. During the next month, these individuals will be front and centre in seeking your vote. It is up to you to ask them hard questions, to deter- mine their position on provincial issues that are near and dear to you. You should question them on their views for these ridings futures. Ask them how they, and their party, plan to improve Ontarios education system in the next four years. Ask them how they intend to improve the air qual- ity in the Oakville-Clarkson airshed. Ask them how they intend to spend your taxes more wisely in the future. Question them about hospital wait times, long- term care facilities, improving the provinces econo- my, dealing with provincial debt, public transit, pre- serving farmland and other natural resources, alterna- tive energy sources...the list is endless. We expect politicians to work hard for us once they are in office. First, we should also make them work hard in get- ting there. sk questions Pud BY STEVE NEASE neasecartoons@gmail.com It was interesting and reveal- ing to read in PC Oakville candi- date Larry Scotts letter how quickly and deftly he deflected the issue of PC Leader Tim Hudaks promise to cancel Dalton McGuintys uploading of the remaining $500M away from municipalities by focusing on the red herring of wage settlements of public employees. I wonder what he has against people working for decent sala- ries, benefits packages that ensure good health care and pensions that will ensure a financially sound retirement. The Tories, like their counter- parts on Metro Council, seem anxious to drive more and more people into penury. Surely Mr. Scott must realize that the current financial crisis was not caused by public sector wage settlements, but by the financial sector south of the bor- der that ran amok because right- wing governments abrogated their oversight responsibilities. A truly progressive party should be looking at ways to improve the incomes of all Canadians who are eking out a living and facing an uncertain future instead of looking for ways to increase their numbers. Instead of targeting unions, cutting taxes and slashing gov- ernment services, it should be looking to make our tax system more progressive as it was 45 years ago when this country was at its most prosperous state and the wealth of the country was more equitably divided among its citizens. George Brett, Oakville Upset by firefighters' campaign endorsement