www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, February 17, 2010 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 --Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends 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: Canadian Circulation Audit Board Member THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America Canadian Community Newspapers Association ATHENA Award NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of Media Group Ltd. DAVID HARVEY Regional 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 Standing firm While Burlington debates how to protect the endangered Jefferson Salamander from a major road-widening project, we here in Oakville are battling to protect the very welfare of our residents. Burlington, in co-operation with the two environmental agencies, plans to close one of its roads for up to one week each spring to allow for the endangered Jefferson Salamander to migrate safely to its breeding ponds. While we applaud any action to protect the environment and its creatures from mega-construction projects, we are left wondering why isn't someone listening to the rallying cries from Oakville residents and politicians over the proposed 900-megawatt gas-fired power plant? Adding even further insult were comments uttered by Terri Steeves, TransCanada's project manager of the Oakville Generating Station, during a recent open house. "We don't believe the Town of Oakville has the jurisdiction to deal with air quality issues. We believe this falls under provincial jurisdiction." Frankly, Oakville residents don't care about jurisdictional issues. All they know is that they don't want the TransCanada plant as a neighbour. Nothing experts say will lessen the fear of having this project built next to the Oakville Ford Plant, less than 400 metres from the nearest residential area and an elementary school. Last week in this space we discussed our deep concern following the massive explosion at a 620-megawatt, gasfired power plant in Middletown, Connecticut. To recap, that was the explosion which killed five construction workers and injured 12 more and reportedly blew out the windows of a hospital three kilometres away. It doesn't matter to Oakville residents that TransCanada is proud of its safety record. It told residents it has operated gas-fired power plants within the Province of Ontario and across North America for more than 20 years without a serious incident taking place. Middletown, however, proved that accidents do happen. We stand beside the residents of Oakville and members of Town Council in this fight to bring common sense back to Queen's Park. This paper will continue to do what it can to ensure the collective voices of Oakville are heard and that Premier Dalton McGuinty is held accountable for this project every step of the way. If Burlington city council can protect the salamander, surely the Province can afford the same protection to the residents of Oakville. 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. Letter to the editor Hospital is needed, price tag is too high I have just come from the public meeting at the Oakville Town hall, at which Halton Healthcare Services (HHS) presented its proposal for the new Oakville Hospital. While the provincial government will bear the lion's share of the costs of planning and design, construction, building equipment and life cycle maintenance, funding for 10 per cent of construction, building equipment and maintenance and 100 per cent of clinical equipment and facilities such as cafeteria, parking and retail space will be the local share. It's my understanding the following must be provided from a capital fundraising campaign: $60 million (+/- 15 per cent); from revenue generated at the hospital (parking and retail outlets) $270 million (+/- 15 per cent); from local government, $200 million (+/15 per cent). The total local share of costs for the proposed hospital will amount to $530 million. When it is finished, the new hospital will provide 130 more beds than the existing OTMH. By my reckoning, that is just over $4 million for each additional bed, which seems like a lot. We have the land and the Province (well, we the taxpayers) will pay for most of the building costs. The Town of Oakville is asked to pay for the equipment. The planners have, understandably, taken the opportunity to include everything but the kitchen sink in their wish list. They envision creating a state of the art, "green," family friendly, teaching hospital, with a cancer wing and several MRI machines. While it is undeniable that the town will continue to grow and put increasing pressure on the dated OTMH -- the proposed plan for a new hospital, with all its bells and See Costs page 10 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 email to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Tree bylaw not working well Despite the fact that the Town of Oakville introduced a Tree Protection Bylaw on Oct. 1, 2008, almost on a daily basis we are still losing beautiful old trees in the areas south of the QEW. It seems that the Tree Protection Bylaw is either not being enforced or is too weak to effectively protect our tree canopy. When will people realize that our big old trees play a vital role in fighting air pollution and in controlling temperatures? Oakville is very committed in the fight against the gas power plant. I wish the same commitment would be shown to preserve the beauty and value which is given to us by our trees. CAROLA KOITZ, OAKVILLE Sunday used to be Family Day It was a pleasant feeling to see parents and children interacting at Family Day activities organized by municipal authorities. However, it also brought a feeling of sadness to see that Family Day has become a once-per-year event when it used to be every Sunday. That was before Jack Layton, then as a Toronto City Councillor, peddled Sunday shopping; reason by which many parents or children, or both, find themselves working on that day rather than spending time together. BILL FLORES, PRESIDENT THE CHILDREN'S VOICE