6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday October 25, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS A DIVISION OF METROLAND MEDIA GROUP WEST GROUP PUBLISHER IAN OLIVER Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, Caledon Enterprise, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian New laws make sense Generally speaking, the rules of law are in place to ensure the public's safety. However, the Ontario government announced recently it is taking action on two fronts to amend existing legislation after determining current laws are not protecting the public as well as once thought. First, the provincial government announced it is planning changes to the Liquor Licence Act -- changes that were prompted by attacks on women whose drinks had been spiked with date-rape drugs. Currently, no one in a drinking establishment is allowed to carry their drink into a washroom. However, in the wake of several attacks on women who had left their drinks unattended and had knockout substances secretly slipped into those drinks, Gerry Phillips, Minister of Government Services, said patrons will no longer have to leave their drinks when they make a visit to the washroom. While this simple change will not take effect for several months, it is an important step towards protecting the public. The new law is not mandatory, but it is anticipated most bars will apply for the liquor licence change, which will come without additional costs. The second, and more significant legislative change, concerns Ontario's seatbelt law. In the wake of this month's horrifying crash in Caledon in which four people in an overcrowded minivan died, Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield has introduced legislation that will make it mandatory that each person in a vehicle must wear a seatbelt. Unbelievably the existing legislation does not make it illegal for people to ride in a vehicle that doesn't have enough seatbelts. The fatal crash, which involved a minivan and tractor-trailer, saw 10 people riding in the van which was equipped with only seven seatbelts. The new "one-person, one-seatbelt" law should receive speedy passage and close a loophole that should have been closed long ago -- a loophole that may have resulted in the needless deaths of four people. 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. Constituent unhappy with Turner's relationship with PM, caucus The following letter, addressed to Halton MP Garth Turner, was submitted to the Oakville Beaver for publication. As you know I helped on your recent campaign -- going door-to-door in December and January -- and as a result of that support I offered, I now feel compelled to offer my feelings. First off, I am quite disappointed that you were not better able to manage your message -- in a way that might have enabled you to table your thoughts but still would have allowed for an amicable relationship between yourself and the PMO's office and the caucus in general. Your thoughts, beliefs and willingness to stand for those, should be applauded. However it seems to me that you failed in how to communicate that message in such a way so as to not find yourself in the situation that you are in today. I might add your actions have left your Halton constituents in a very similar situation as well. We, after all, had voted for you to be our representative in Parliament but also in the government of the day. I see now that you may be considering a marriage of convenience with either the Green Party or the Liberals. This would be even more worrisome. I will remind you that when David Emerson was placed in Cabinet and had come over from the Liberals you quite correctly noted that he should run for a by-election in his riding under the Conservative banner. I would expect that, should you decide to join either the Greens or the Liberals, you would immediately step down and run in a by-election. Who I will lend my support to in that by-election or the next election is certainly up in the air now. But it will not be you. CHRIS PALMER Pud Thanks for supporting Fox Run BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com The Oakville Beaver continues to generously support the annual Terry Fox Run in Oakville. Once again, on behalf of all those involved in this September event I would like to personally thank The Oakville Beaver very much for its continued support. We appreciate the significance of everything that your newspaper does with regard to this event and, hopefully, we will be able to count on your continued support. RALPH ROBINSON COORDINATOR TERRY FOX RUN 2006 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.