6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday October 17, 2007 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: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Time to cut the red tape "The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is its inefficiency." -- Eugene McCarthy, former U.S. Congressman and 1968 presidential candidate Unfortunately when it comes to bureaucracies, particularly the Department of National Defence and its handling of the former Ortona Barracks in Oakville, we're not laughing. For more than three decades, since the Canadian Army's Ontario Central Command departed for Canadian Forces Base Toronto in 1971, about 64 houses on Tudor Avenue have remained empty under the ownership of the defence department. During the same time, numerous Oakville families in need of affordable housing are hurting while they wait to receive housing assistance from Halton Region. Currently, there are about 1,800 people on a waiting list to get into affordable housing in Halton. While the 64 homes on Tudor Avenue would only make a small dent in this list, it would at least provide some assistance. Oakville MP Bonnie Brown is well aware of the problem. She apparently has been lobbying the defence department for 14 years to release the homes. However, the wheels of the bureaucracy grind slowly. In 2001, Brown was told the defence department was working its way through a lengthy list of surplus properties and wouldn't likely be considering the Oakville barracks until 2006. Over the years many developers and agencies have tried approaching the defence department with little success. The latest to take up the cause is Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr. Backed by the unanimous support of council, the Region is preparing a business plan for the vacant barracks to convince the military bureaucrats to turn over the empty buildings to them. The Region would like to use the houses to shelter abused women, people facing severe economic difficulties and others in distress. Hopefully, it can convince the military bureaucracy that's a better idea than letting the buildings sit empty. Seems like a no-brainer to us. Of course we haven't yet hired a consultant, written a report, organized a focus group, conducted a cost-effectiveness study, requested a show of hands, asked for an in-depth analysis examining the worst-case scenarios, sought a second opinion, or whatever else government bureaucracies do before making a decision. Get on with it. We've waited long enough. 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. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR MMP understood and rejected Re: MMP I see in your paper of Friday, Oct. 12, that the Green Party candidate, Marion Schaffer, and a letter writer, Kyle Gryce, are complaining about people not understanding MMP (Mixed Member Proportional), that the material was "too convoluted." I know that it was discussed on several occasions in my home. We decided that if a party was unable to convince voters to elect members then they probably don't deserve a seat. That if the "party faithful" were to be selected to hold a seat by the party faithful without being responsible to the electors of any riding, based on what percentage of a "party vote" they received, that this would be a much less democratic method of governing than our current First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system. For years we have heard that the federal Senate, being appointed by the party in power, is undemocratic. How would this be any different? Perhaps there is a fairer method of electing our representatives, but MMP isn't it. Just because people don't agree with you, does not mean that they have a less complete understanding of the subject of the discussion. KEITH T. WILLIAMS MMP will not go away Across Ontario 37 per cent voted for MMP (Mixed Member Proportional), and the press called it a resounding defeat. Yet, 42 per cent voted for Dalton McGuinty's Liberals, and the press called it a resounding victory. That's FPTP (First-Past-the-Post) for you. One week ago, one-quarter of voters said they knew a lot about MMP, one-half said they knew a little, one-quarter said they knew nothing. This was not really the basis for an informed discussion, debate or decision. Despite all our efforts, (and oh, our small band of volunteers did work hard) Oakville voted 32 per cent for MMP and 68 per cent for FPTP. But we learned that two-thirds of people under the age of 35 support MMP. That's very encouraging. Time is on our side. This issue will remain on the political agenda of Ontario. We urge Oakville voters to keep thinking, keep talking. What kind of electoral system would really represent your views? Your vote should make a difference, and one day it will. TINA AGRELL OAKVILLE VOTE FOR MMP 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. Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com