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A6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday August 23, 2000 T h e O akville B eaver Ian Oliver Publisher Neil Oliver Associate Publisher Norman Alexander Editor Kelly Montague, Advertising Director Steve Crozier Circulation Director Teri Casas Office Manager M ark Dills Production Manager Riziero Vertolli Director ofPhotography Metxdand Printing. PubSshng & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser. A lsto n Heratd/Couner. Arthur Enterprise News. Barrie Advance. Barry's Bay This Week. Bolton Enterprise. Brampton GuarcJan, B u rlin g to n P ost, B urlington S h opping New s. C ity Parent. CoingwoocVWasaga Connection, East Mark Mrrcr. Erin Advocate'C aritry R outes. E tobicoke G uardian, Fiam borough Post. G eorgetow n Independent/Acton Free Press. Harriston Review. Hurcna Business Tmes, Kingston This Week. Lindsay This Week. Markham Ecnomist & Sun, Midland/P enetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion. Milton Shoppng News. Mssissauga Bujaness Tmes. Mississauga News. 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Oty of Mxk Guarden OPINION R E C O G N IZ E D FO R E X C E L L E N C E BY: O n ta r io C o m m u n ity N e w s p a p e r s A s s o c ia tio n T H E O A K V IL L E B E A V E R IS P R O U D O F F IC IA L M E D IA S P O N S O R F O R : a 467 Speers R d , Oakville OrrL L6K 3S4 (905) 845 -3 82 4 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 8 45-9742 f ^ C N A _j C a n a d ia n C o m m u n ity N ew sp ap ers A s s o c ia tio n Ttf E IRONTE IUTTERFLY O N T A R I O fin d | oakville galleries | m m fsUsSuiiet S u b u rb an N e w sp a p e rs of A m e r ic a H O a& J J L Children' s Choir E d ito ria ls Voting religiously As the United States works itself into a frenzy over the 2000 Presidential election to be held in November and Canadians examine the personalities and platforms of our national political leaders, certain similarities are becom' ^ H o E ^ P the the banner of the American thank good`right' is George W. Bush, son of a former ness, have long-ago risen President, sometime oil man and self-pro above religious bias. We elected a bachelor Catholic fessed, born-again Christian. On the `left' we have his opponent, A1 prime minister and have Gore who is a `family rights' supporter, buzz seen a single woman as words which have become linked with the our head o f state, not religious right. And then we have his surprise tomention a Jewish running mate, Joe Lieberman, an Orthodox Ontario premier. So what? Jew who takes his religion very seriously indeed. Work on Saturday? Forget it. In Canada, as the country watches Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark go down with the Tory ship, we have the emergence of Alliance Party leader Stockwell Day. The Albertan is another `born-again' Christian, thus bonding his new party with the old Reform Party and its evangelical leader, Preston Manning. The Prime Minister is Catholic and who knows what, if any religious affiliation is followed by the NDP's Alexa McDonaugh? And who cares? So what's with all this sudden pandering to religious groups? Surely one of the most important component of North American democracy is the divi sion of church and state. But you'd hardly know it from the U.S. and now Canadian politics. Canadians, thank goodness, have long-ago risen above religious bias. We elected a bachelor Catholic prime minister and have seen a single woman as our head o f state, not to mention a Jewish Ontario premier. So what? Looking back, it's hard to believe what a fuss the press made when John Kennedy became the first Catholic President. Religion and politics...strange bedfellows indeed. Mike Harris meets the Pope... THE PREMIER WONDERS IF YOU'P BLESS ONTARIO^ WATER AND PRAY FOR A TEACHERS Yo u r EMINENCE. L e t t e r s t o t h e E d it o r The Oakville Beaver welcomes your comments. All letters must be typed, signed and include the writer's address and phone number. Send to: Letters to the Editor, The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4 Editorial m isrepresentedGTAgrow thpresentation I am writing to let you know how much I appreciate the accuracy of Kim Amott's report in your Aug. 18th edition on my recent speech to the Oakville Provincial Liberal Association regarding growth in the GTA and the Golden Horseshoe. And also to let you know how puzzled I am at the editorial blast it spawned. The editorial in the Aug. 18th edition of the Beaver argues that I was irresponsible to suggest traffic congestion in this area is the GTA's problem -- not that of the federal or provincial government -- to solve. The writer of that editorial obviously was not there to hear my entire speech, and appears not to have read Kim's report on my speech, either. Kim's report directly (and accu rately) quotes me as follows "the province needs to provide the area with better tools for solving its prob lems, including a strong GTSB [Greater Toronto Services Board] and adequate funding mechanisms". And she accurately quotes me as saying "I really believe this is our issue and (the province) just has to give us the tools to solve it". In other words, I am arguing the province has a major role to play here. Only the province can consti tutionally provide the GTA's munici palities with the governing and financing structure required so the GTA can get the job done. Yet your editorial concludes that for me "to suggest that Halton and its GTA neighbours should solve the problem without aid from the provincial or federal government is irresponsible". For the record, so that my posi tion can be better understood, here are the key points I made in my speech on Aug. 17th: -- the Golden Horseshoe is one of the most populated and fastest growing economic zones in the US and Canada -- Canada's free trade agree ments with the US and- Mexico are mainly responsible for the prosperity underway in this area -- it is of vital interest to both Canada and Ontario to support this growth -- the proper growth-supporting role for the federal government is to keep the airports, borders and bridges working to keep the goods flowing, and to maintain a low infla tion, growth-supporting economic environment by pursuing the appro-' priate monetary and fiscal policies (which they are doing) -- the proper growth-supporting role for the province is to repair and enhance its existing 400 series high ways to keep the goods flowing between Ontario and the US, and from one community in the province to another, and to add to the network n such as in Niagara and Southwestern Ontario ii where extra capacity appears needed (which they are doing, or they are considering doing) -- GTA congestion exists because the rapidly growing com muter traffic is clashing with the rapidly growing truck traffic; the solution to the commuter problem lies in enhanced transit and regional roads, responsibilities which are appropriately municipally based -- neither the federal nor provin cial government will ever spend the amount of money required to enhance transit or road networks in the GTA; if they do they'll feel com pelled to spend similar amounts in other parts of the country where growth is likely never to occur and is not needed; if they do spend money on transportation in the GTA, they'll do it in a way that grabs headlines but doesn't solve problems (such as on the proposed, but ill-conceived and costly, rail link from Pearson Airport to Union Station, even though most trips to and from the airport don't involve going to or from downtown Toronto) Given the above trends and con straints I conclude the province should give the GTSB a strong man date to deal with just a few critical issues common to the entire GTA: to plan where the growth should occur, and to build the infrastructure need ed to facilitate the growth. The province should set the GTSB up so it represents the entire GTA in a democratically balanced manner. And it should provide it with a rev enue source and/or other funding mechanism to get the job done on behalf of the GTA's citizens. Between the early 1970s and the early 1990s both the federal and provincial governments of Canada spent endless billions of dollars attempting to foster economic devel opment in far flung areas of the country where no business case could ever be made to do so. Our leaders claimed the money was for jobs, but it was really for votes. And they nearly bankrupted the country in the process. And while they spent those bil lions other than in the GTA, they mostly turned a blind eye to the traf fic and transit issues gradually build ing in this area. Issues that threaten the economic viability of the entire country and province. Nothing has changed in the political process in recent years to suggest the federal or provincial governments can ever be expected to spend the necessary billions of dol lars in the GTA. Toronto is a part of the country the rest of Canada resents because it is already better off economically than most every where else. That's why I conclude the province should give the GTA the tools it needs to get the job done itself: a strong GTSB and appropri ate funding mechanisms. Tom McCormack, Letter of the Week Councillor disappointed with land decision A short time has passed since Council unceremoni ously adopted the Strategic Land Study for the lands north of Dundas Street. Since that evening, I have had time to reflect on the process on my feelings of anger have subsided to one of disappointment at a great oppor tunity that was lost. Earlier this term, Oakville Town Council made a bold move in determining to move ahead with an environ mental analysis of the lands in question. The study was performed by a consulting firm named LGL, which for the most part, did a superb job in documenting the fea tures of the land and categorizing the environmental importance of their findings. The Strategic Land Use study followed with what was supposed to be a public process. The Town prides itself on the high level of citi zen involvement we attempt to attain in all civic matters. What was unforeseen but a welcome relief in my opinion, was the intense public interest that the issue generated in the community. What was unfortunate was the inability of the Steering Committee to properly engage the public in the process. On numerous occa sions, I have asked staff and the consulting firm for evi dence that the public was listened to. To date, I have received only vague responses. Opportunity was given for the public to make presentations but little or nothing really changed as a result. As the process moved forward, I and all Members of Council were contacted by a grassroots organization called Oakvillegreen. I met with them on numerous occasions and gave them advice on how to address issues as public respondees to the study. I informed them that the process is designed to involve the public and that their ideas would be welcome if presented in a reason able manner. In hindsight, I regret having given that counsel, as the experience they suffered as the process unfolded, was one of being preached to, ridiculed as being simplistic and anti-growth, being denied informa tion, told they were new to the process and simply didn't understand and were the subject of misinformation designed to portray them in a financially-irresponsible light. Despite this unbecoming treatment, the community should be extremely proud of the professional approach that Oakvillegreen brought to the planning process. They were able to pack the Council Chambers on numerous occasions and in my opinion, represented community sentiment on the growth issue far better than Council. If there was anyone who didn't understand, it was the majority of Council. People are simply fed up with the gridlock, declining air quality, examples of recently planned communities that we see in the GTA and the ever-shrinking open space in our town. They suggested that Council defer its decision until certain open space principles had been adopted and made a series of suggested amendments to improve (S e e `G ro u p ' p a g e A 7 ) Press free d o m needs lim itations Your Aug. 16th headline story: `School janitor faces child porn charges' is deeply disturbing in that it nam es the accused. By doing so, the very cornerstone of our criminal justice system; name ly, the fundamental right to a fair trial, has been compromised. Given the emotionally-charged nature of the crime, the proximity of school custodians to potential victims of child pornography, and the sketchy sum m ary of the Crown's case, how is Christian John Walker going to find 12 true and objective jurors should he elect trial by jury? Let us assume that for one rea son or another, the evidence was d eliberately planted, and the Crown subsequently withdraws the charges. Will Mr. Walker be free to resume his life as though nothing happened? Hardly! Let's assume that the trial pro ceeds and either a judge or jury determine that Mr. Walker is inno cent. Again, by simply having his name associated with such a heinous act in the local paper, the likelihood of a return to normal life within his chosen community will be virtually impossible. Freedom of the press is essen tial in a free society. However, as with all freedoms, it is subject to reasonable limitations. One such limit centres on the right of an accused both to a fair hearing and to be deem ed innocent until proven guilty. The names of those who have merely been charged should not be published, period. As vigilant as our police are in conducting investigations, mis takes are made. Witness Steven Truscott, Donald Marshall, David Milgaard, Susan Nelles, Guy Paul Morin -- all accused of the most serious crime of all -- all innocent of the charge. In the case of Christian Walker, far better to have placed our trust in the Halton D istrict School Board regarding his employment status pending trial, than publish his name on the Beaver's front page. P eter P ellier President Strategic Projections Inc. Pud by Steve Nease New QEW ramp has struck nerve Thank you for printing my letter in the July 26th edition regarding the July 17th fatal truck accident on a new QEW Royal Windsor Drive ramp (amongst other beefs about the QEW). It was interesting that you also published another letter on the same subject from a Margaret Abrahams. I wonder how many people feel the same as us on this subject? A .I. M eadow s