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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A ug us t 22 ,2 01 9 | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised family of newspapers is comprised f of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca editor@oakvillebeaver.com facebook.com/OakvilleBeavfacebook.com/OakvilleBeavf @OakvilleBeaver WHO WE ARE VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Director of Distribution Charlene Hall Circulation Manager Kim Mossman Director of Production Mark Dills Regional Production Manager Manny Garcia Regional General Manager Steve Foreman Halton Media General Manager Vicki Dillane Regional Director of Media Holly Chriss CONTACT US Oakville Beaver 901 Guelph Line Burlington, ON L7R 3N8 Phone: 289-293-0617 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Digital/Flyer/Retail: 289-293-0624 Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We for verification purposes. We f reserve the right to edit, con- dense or reject letters. Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail kmossman@metroland.com or call 905-631-6095. OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM It's summertime, the living is easy and a lot of Oak- ville residents will look forward to tossing a steak or burger on the grill this weekend.That's a great and tasty way to entertain. But when it's meat on the menu, whether on the bar- becue or in the oven, it's absolutely not great for the planet, according to a new report from the United Na- tions. The latest word from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that the way we use and abuse land around the world - and that includes how we farm to feed ourselves - is a major contributing factor to the rising temperatures that threaten the future of hu- manity. Not surprisingly, then, one of the report's most impor- tant policy recommendations is that humans stop eating so much meat. Give what's at stake, eating fewer steaks shouldn't be hard to do. Our species is caught in a vicious cycle. Our energy- intensive farming methods, especially those connected to livestock production, are damaging soils and pump- ing out the greenhouse gases that make the world hotter. As that happens, more of our farmland becomes less fertile and even deteriorates into desert. It's true that our technologically-advanced systems of agriculture are by far the most productive in history and explain why the human population has been able to hit an all-time high of 7.7 billion. But as modern industrial farming - and that includes clearing forests for more pastures and fields - unleashes the forces of climate change, it threatens to make itself unsustainable. Indeed, one of the most troubling conclu- sions of the new UN report is that the climate change humans are causing is threatening the human food supply. Canada won't be spared from food price shocks and possible shortages either, if we crank the world's thermostat too high. But the good news in the UN report is that we can make a difference. We can join the international effort to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. And we can do this by limiting the amount of meat we eat, or not consuming it at all. It's one weapon in the arsenal for fighting climate change. Getting our protein from meat requires more land, more resources and more energy than if we obtain our protein from plants. In addition, livestock emissions are responsible for a greater share of total greenhouse gas emissions than cars and trucks. It's no coincidence that alternatives to meat that come close to looking and tasting like meat are increas- ingly appearing in restaurants and on grocery store shelves. At the end of the day, what lands on your plate is your choice. No one's forcing you to change. But the evidence is clear. We are what we eat. Our planet's future depends on what we eat, too. EATING LESS MEAT COULD HELP FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE EDITORIAL LETTERS & COMMENTARY CANADA'S PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE IS UNFAIR Canada's patchwork system of prescription drug coverage is unfair, ex- pensive and leaves too many people behind. Coverage varies from person to person and from province to province. We pay some of the highest drug prices in the world. Approximately 20 per cent of Canadians have inade- quate coverage or no cover- age at all. My mother is one of those people: she's a Type 1 diabetic who works in the retail sector for minimum wage, and the employer doesn't offer an insurance plan. She pays the full cost out of pocket and is forced to stretch things by reusing supplies, skipping doses and testing. We constantly worry about her health and can't understand why Canadi- ans don't have equal access to medication like we do for hospitals and doctors. The time for a universal, single-payer, public phar- macare program is long overdue. We're heading into a fed- eral election in a few months. I'll be voting for a party that promises to deliver a universal pharmacare plan for all Canadians. SANGEETA CHARRON OAKVILLE MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS AND HOUSING MINISTER DEFENDS BILL 108 Responding to the news story: The Town of Oak- ville says province's Bill 108 could result in reduced ser- vice levels or a property tax increase for residents. Some officials will use any excuse to raise taxes. We disagree with that ap- proach. We consulted widely on our plan, receiving over 2,000 submissions, 85 per cent of which were from the public. Over 140 days of consul- tation are planned before the end of the year on the proposed approach and the formula for the com- munity benefits charge, with the final changes in- tended to make the up- front costs of new housingfront costs of new housingf more predictable for ev- eryone. We are consulting with residents, so they can help decide how community benefit charges are spent to support the services they want - like parks and daycares - through their municipality's community benefits strategy. Our proposed changes take the best from the On- tario Municipal Board (OMB) and the Local Plan- ning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), creating a system that can make the best planning decisions in a timely manner. We are add- ing 11 new adjudicators, a 45 per cent increase, to tackle the backlog of cases. Our government is moving toward a cost-recovery model so that homebuil- ders pay more for the sys- tem, not the people of Onta- rio. We look forward to con-We look forward to con-W tinuing to work with our municipal partners to create more housing op- tions and more choice, for the people who matter most - the people of Onta- rio. STEVE CLARK, MINISTER OF MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS AND HOUSING