6- The Oakville Beaver, Friday February 22, 2008 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 DAVID HARVEY General Manager 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 ANCHOR Circ. Manager Logical next step It's impossible to drink and drive without the use of a car, truck or motorcycle. That's the premise behind Ontario's tough new approach to impaired driving -- the permanent seizure of repeat offenders' vehicles. Under a new civil law that took effect Wednesday, anyone who has had their driver's licence suspended for drinking and driving offences two or more times in the preceding 10 years faces the possibility of losing their vehicle forever. The same law protects the interests of responsible vehicle owners who do, or have done, all they can to ensure their vehicle is not being driven by someone who has previously broken drinking and driving laws. Civil court will retain the power to release a seized vehicle from impound if its registered owner agrees to courtimposed conditions including having the vehicle fitted with an ignition interlock device -- an alcohol breath-screening device that prevents a vehicle from starting if it detects a blood alcohol concentration higher than a pre-set limit -- and agreeing that the person whose actions resulted in the forfeiture application will not drive the vehicle. The new law is the latest in a string of steps that have been taken to make Ontario one of the toughest jurisdictions for drunk drivers. Other deterrents Ontario impaired drivers face include: · immediate licence suspension; · stiff fines; · longer suspension periods; · mandatory alcohol education and treatment; · vehicle impoundment; · ignition interlock program. "To keep families and communities safe, we are getting tougher on those who endanger themselves and others," said Jim Bradley, Ontario Minister of Transportation. The new law will see forfeited vehicles go to public auction with proceeds deposited into a special purpose account intended to compensate the victims of impaired drivers. We see this new civil law as a logical next step to removing impaired drivers from our roads. The only downside to this tougher approach to ridding society of the carnage wrought by drunk drivers is that it didn't come into effect years ago. By effectively removing an impaired driver's `weapon', countless lives will be saved, leaving fewer families decimated by the irresponsible actions of others. 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 Oakville should avoid creating sports factories in North Park Mayor Rob Burton has many good initiatives, such as the green spaces in north Oakville and the intensification along the GO corridor. The Oakville Soccer Club also has great initiatives and is a model in soccer development. Unfortunately, the way they are pursuing the North Park, at the north west corner of Dundas and Neyagawa, is a very poor initiative for the Oakville community. These are 10 reasons why the North Park should not go ahead as proposed and needs new design: 1. In the 21st century, when leading cities are focusing on building great communities, it is not smart to build 16 soccer fields in one place as compared to one soccer field in 16 places (or two in eight). We need facilities near residents' homes, where kids can walk and bike to play Frisbee or fly a kite. 2. The limited public consultation was done exclusively with sports groups -- the users. When the investment for the initial phase is equivalent to over $1,100 per home in Oakville, the consultation should be with a broad representation of all residents and not just the sport groups. Everyone will end up paying, directly or indirectly. BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com 3. Much of the investment will use development charges from future residents of the lands north of Dundas, from the border with Mississauga to the border with Burlington. It does not make sense to those future residents to be paying for facilities that will be clustered far from their homes and where they will always need to use the car. Remember that more than one in three residents do not drive: everyone under 17, 25 per cent of those over age 60 and 15 per cent of those aged 1760. 4. It will generate a huge traffic congestion. Assuming only 10 cars per team of 16 players (some would carpool), there would be over 320 cars going in and out for every game time. On a Saturday morning when small children play there would be more than 1,250 cars, in addition to people driving to the ball fields, library, pool, four pads, skateboard, etc. 5. Terrible for the environment. Probably the nicest creek in Oakville is the Sixteen-Mile Creek. Chemicals from the main Pud See Best page 7 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.