6 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 11, 2009 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 Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of Media Group Ltd. 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 SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager Premature comments Was Mayor Rob Burton being a little premature when he told a public meeting last Thursday that the Conservative federal government wouldn't be chipping in for the proposed multi-million dollar Queen Elizabeth Park (QEP) Community Centre? Oakville MP Terence Young, who says he is working on obtaining funding for the proposal, is optimistic federal money will be forthcoming. Perhaps, it is a simple matter of interpreting a call between the two parties prior to the Tory budget announcement two weeks ago. Both agree the call took place, but their versions vary. According to Burton: "He called me personally just ahead of the budget announcement to tell me that we weren't going to get anything and assured me he would keep trying." According to Young: "They named some big ones that cross provincial boundaries, like we are going to expand the track and improve rail service between Toronto and Montreal, but I said, `Don't draw any conclusions if any projects in Oakville are not named, I'm still working on them and am optimistic about them.'" At least both agree, that Young is still working on trying to obtain funding for the project. We think it's a little early to be writing off the possibility of federal funding for this project. First, the Town of Oakville hasn't even selected one of the three options -- with the cost ranging between $23.3 and $33.5 million -- proposed for the community centre. Second, it seems unlikely that the federal government has exhausted all of its $285 billion of funding announced in the budget. Third, with two Conservative MPs representing Oakville, we find it hard to believe the Tory government would ignore their requests completely. All of which makes us wonder why the mayor was quick to publicly dismiss the possibility of federal funding for the project? 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 The decision currently before the Halton District School Board in regard to Ward 4 accommodation issues will have a significant impact on your community, regardless of whether your children attend or will attend Abbey Lane, Heritage Glen, Emily Carr, École Forest Trail, West Oak Trail, Pilgrim Wood, Captain Wilson or the future Palermo school. While admittedly there has been some disagreement expressed throughout the Ward 4 accommodation review process, which has, by most accounts, evolved into a debate over single-track versus dual-track French immersion, strong opinions have clearly been expressed by members in the community on both sides of this issue. In light of recent public comments made by our own Ward 4 Trustee, Kathryn Bateman-Olmstead in regard to her concern that "some members of Pilgrim Wood may not be welcoming until we sort the French immersion out," we as Pilgrim Wood Public School (PWPS) school council feel a need to respond. We are disappointed, and extremely concerned, that our trustee chose such a public forum (Feb. 2 Halton District School Board meeting and later quoted in Pilgrim Wood supports dual-track FI schools The Oakville Beaver) to single out members of the Pilgrim Wood community as the primary source of the concern, as one could equally express concerns about members of the French immersion community's ability to assimilate into a dualtrack school given that some members have continuously maligned dual-track delivery. The PWPS school council believes that parents of the neighbourhood French immersion students will be able to accept the movement to a dual-track PWPS and move on, as we recognize that comments made by particular individuals should never be construed to be representative of an entire school or community. We believe we live in a very welcoming and supportive community. Many of the families who would be coming to our school are already our friends and neighbours. The parents and school council at PWPS are not against French immersion and never have been. We have, in fact, expressed on numerous occasions that we would welcome a French immersion track in our school provided that it does not result in our school becoming significantly overcrowded (as is currently contemplated in the recommendation before the board) and provided that enrolment is managed to ensure this balance continues and that the school would not eventually be converted into the next single-track French immersion school in Oakville. We want our children to be allowed to stay in their neighbourhood school and receive continued high quality programming. We, as a council, believe our school can, and will, come together to support a French immersion track in our school, provided our requests to avoid overcrowding and conversion into a STFI are given adequate consideration. We have fabulous administrators and teaching staff at our school and we believe that if anyone can make a dual track school work in Ward 4 this would be the administration best able to rise to the challenge. We can look forward to having all of our children exposed to a bilingual culture where they can all benefit from exposure to a second language at a young age, regardless of program choice. JOHN HICKEY CO-CHAIR, PILGRIM WOOD SCHOOL COUNCIL FI is optional program Re: Parents must distinguish between needs and wants, Oakville Beaver, Feb. 6. The truest form of "wants versus needs" is mandated versus optional programs. Mandated programs must be provided versus optional programs, which are exactly that -- optional. French immersion is in the end an optional program. See the difference. WENDY GUNN This week's poll This week's question is: Do you think the province's latest contract offer to the elementary school teachers is: · Fair · Unfair · Overly generous To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com Last week's poll: Should the federal government respond to President Barack Obama's Buy American stimulus package by enacting a Buy Canadian stimulus package? · Yes 40% · No 60% Total votes: 30 votes 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 416-3401981. 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.