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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, S ep te m be r 19 ,2 01 9 | 8 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 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Published letters will appear in print and/or online at insidehalton.com 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 LETTERS & COMMENTARY EDITORIAL SUPERWALK RAISES MORE THAN $28,000 FOR PARKINSON CANADA On Saturday, Sept. 7, walkers and volunteers gathered in Oakville to raise funds for Parkinson Canada, as Royal Canadian Legion Branch 114 hosted the sixth annual Oakville Parkinson SuperWalk. We would like to thank all those who participated, and we are pleased to re- port that in excess of $28,000 was raised for Par- kinson Canada, which is a significant increase over previous years. We would also like to ac- knowledge the support and generosity provided by the Oakville business commu- nity, as well as Mayor Rob Burton, who took time from his busy schedule to support the event. For those who would have liked to participate, it isn't too late. There is still time to contribute. Until Sept. 30, donations can be made at www.parkinson- superwalk.ca or by send- ing a cheque to Parkinson Canada, 4211 Yonge St., Suite 321, Toronto, ON, M2P 2A9. Thank you, Oakville! DEBBIE PAWELCZYK OAKVILLE SUPERWALK CO-ORDINATOR NOISE POLLUTION IS EVERY- WHERE, LAMENTS READER Thank you for your much-needed editorial. Noise pollution is every- where. Restaurants not only have gone in for open kitch- ens, hard surfaces, but they now add loud, inap- propriate music to the mix, making conversation al- most impossible. People try talking over this clam- our and end up adding to the cacophony. Then there's the inevita- ble music in waiting rooms, stores, shopping malls. It just never stops. Wouldn't it be wonder- ful if a law was passed put- ting a limit on noise levels for all gardening machin- ery for a start. CATHERINE WALLACE OAKVILLE NOISE IS FRUSTRATING ISSUE, SAYS READER Concerning the editorial, "The World is Getting Noisi- er."Hear hear. We have re- cently moved "rather too close" to Trafalgar Road. We constantly hear "souped up" loud cars, changing gears, speeding up Trafalgar Road. And ... it's all hours of the day and night. We so wish there was more of a police presence. AND.....idiots in cars do kill. Wèkill. Wèkill. Were trying to find outkill. Were trying to find outkill. Wekill. Wèkill. Were trying to find outkill. Wèkill. We what the safe decibel levels are in Oakville. Thank you for address- ing this frustrating and stressful issue. Oakville bylaw: "All residents are entitled to a peaceful life- style." LARAINE BOWEN OAKVILLE SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM LETTERS & COMMENTARY Buy a car, or a toy car for that matter, and pay taxes. We live in an economy and society built on the trans- actions of goods and services. Generally, we know any transaction will include a share toward our public costs. That's how it works. For most of us. But the world's largest corporations - all Big Tech - are taking money from us, our towns, villages and cities, without paying their fair share to contribute to those public costs. While they are extracting dollars, billions of dollars, they are also extracting information, unimaginable amounts of information, about virtually every single Canadian. With mind-boggling algorithms, they use that data to control commerce, marketing, and even information and news distribution - further increasing their reach and profits. Think Amazon's dominance of online shopping, Apple's control over the App Store and how Google now answers your questions on its home page rather than directing you to another source. Our governments, with weak regulatory standards, are allowing them to do this. Only our governments can insist these behemoths contribute relative to their revenue when it comes to our health, security, education and infrastructure. Only our governments can regulate what they do with your data to control the marketplace. And what are our legislators doing? Dragging their feet on regulation. Even spending our taxpayer money on advertising with social media giants like Facebook. Read that again: spending taxpayer money on Face- book, which pays virtually no taxes, to reach voters because Facebook can collect voter information, un- fettered, to parse and parcel for advertisers. In 2018, the federal government spent $39.2 million on digital advertising, and $7.8 million of that on social media - close to $6 million of that on Facebook. These digital giants are milking us of our informa- tion and taking revenue out of our economic cycle. Not only are legislators allowing it to happen, they're giving them more of our money along the way. This newspaper has traditionally relied on advertis- ing dollars to fund local journalism and bring you news and information about your community. Those dollars are dwindling. Google and Facebook share 74 per cent of the $6.8 billion spent on internet advertising in Canada, according to the Canadian Media Concentration Research Project - leaving local media struggling to survive. We suspect this story's ending doesn't include greater privacy, strong local media or the ability of startups to get a foothold in the digital economy. Unless, that is, our provincial and federal governments find the courage to regulate them so they pay their fair share, and have limitations on how they use our information. GOVERNMENTS MUST STAND UP TO BIG TECH