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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, May 23, 2012 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS 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 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 DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution KIM MOSSMAN Circ. Manager No other option She didn't leave her name or a callback telephone number on her voice message. All she wanted to do was let The Oakville Beaver's sister paper The Burlington Post know it should not have put a photograph of a `sniper' on the front page of the paper. In all due respect to the anonymous caller, we would describe a member of the Halton Regional Police TRU (Tactical Response Unit) as a trained professional called out to ensure public safety. Yes, it was sad a bear was killed last week in Burlington when it ventured too close to a residential area after hanging around in a public park for most of a morning. Yes, it would have been wonderful to see the animal relocated far, far away. It was a similar situation to the coyote that Halton police had to shoot earlier this year in Oakville. In a perfect world, the bear would have been sleeping in a tree and the police would have been armed with the proper equipment to tranquilize the bear. A veterinarian would have been standing by, as would Ministry of Natural Resources personnel ready to transport the animal. Yet, what were police to do when the bear wandered into a park where children like to play? What would have happened if the police had not taken down the animal? What would letter writers and callers say if a child were injured? When there is a crisis or an emergency, the first people you want assisting you are the police. If the situation warrants, the police do what they are trained to -- ensure residents are safe. Halton police were in a damned-if-they-do, damned-if-they-don't situation. While there are some residents who are convinced the bear was nothing but target practice for TRU members, we believe they had no real options available to them. Perhaps residents need to be asking more questions of the Ministry of Natural Resources than taking out their anger and frustration on the police. 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. Widening not needed I read in The Oakville Beaver about the proposed widening of Upper Middle Road and wanted to voice my opinion. I don't believe widening Upper Middle Road is necessary. The QEW has been recently widened. Also, Dundas Street is in the process of being widened. That should help traffic move a little better. I think we should be encouraging people to use public transit more instead of turning all roads through our town into mini highways. I travel on Upper Middle Road quite a bit. I enjoy driving on it now but can't even imagine it as wider. It is only busy at certain spots for a short while. Most of the time, it is fairly quiet. Making it larger would only encourage people to take it instead of the alternate routes. Bringing more cars through residential areas is the wrong move to make. That is not my idea of The Most Livable Town. Oakville is growing and changing quick enough. Let's not keep adding to more traffic and congestion. Let people who choose to drive the east/west route take the highways already in place and not keep adding new ones. Marlene Dick, Oakville Letter to the editor Bill is no friend of environment I hope the readers of The Oakville Beaver are aware of the way the so-called budget bill, Bill C38, devastates many long-standing and beneficial environmental laws. Not only does it repeal the Kyoto protocol Implementation Act but also the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy Act, which facilitates environmental dialogue and advice form business, academia and environmental civil society organizations. This grouping has been called unnecessary by the Minister of the Environment, Peter Kent because he considers this exchange of views can happen over the internet. Bill C38 will eliminate all protection for fish habitat except for commercial, recreational and aboriginal fisheries and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act is also repealed and is to be replaced by an act that gives theMinisteroftheEnvironment powers to end an environmental assessment if he/she considers it is taking too long. It also gives the national 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. Energy Board full powers to approve the construction of pipe lines in any navigable waters and to decide what species of any kind in the path of the pipeline may be considered endangered. The Conservative Party cannot avoid being considered the anti-environmental party and on the basis of its coverall, omnibus bill and other abuses of parliament, the anti democratic party as well. Mervyn Russell, chair Oakville/Mississauga Kairos Group Follow Oakville Beaver staff on Twitter @OakvilleBeaver or @NewsHooked @DavidLea6 @DominikKurek @BeaverSports or @Halton_Photog The Oakville Beaver lost power yesterday after a transformer went down. Repairs were started Tuesday, but power was still out as of press deadlines. Editorial is currently working from the offices of our sister paper, The Burlington Post, at 5040 Mainway, Unit 1. Please don't hesitate to call us at 905-632-4444 or use our e-mail addresses, which are still working. Thanks for your patience. Angela Blackburn, Managing Editor Editor's note