w w w . o a kv ill eb ea ve r.c o m O A KV IL LE B EA V ER W e dn es da y, N ov em be r 1 0, 2 01 0 6 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends The Oakville Beaver Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. OPINION & LETTERS 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@oakville- beaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. This past weekend hundreds of local residents joined with area veterans at the Bronte Legion Remembrance services in Bronte. This Thursday, The Oakville Legion will hold its service at 11 a.m. at the Oakville Cenotaph in Georges Square. But is holding Remembrance serv- ices enough of a tribute to the brave women and men who have served this country so valiantly over the decades? Tory MPP Lisa MacLeod doesnt think so and introduced a private members bill last Thursday that proposes Nov. 11 be made a statutory holiday. This is a day of mourning, MacLeod said. And we have to think of the new veterans who are coming home from Afghanistan . . . Democracy is not cheap. Her bill, entitled Respect for Ontario Veterans, Soldiers and War Dead Act, 2010, would switch Nov. 11 for the Family Day statutory holiday in February. The bill, if passed, would not just close the Toronto Stock Exchange, banks and businesses; it would ensure school children remember the day by calling for a remembrance service on the last day of class before Nov. 11. Nov. 11 is currently only a government holiday in Ontario one of three provinces/territories that does not mark the day with a statutory holiday. Perhaps it is time that changed. While we certainly supported a provincial holiday in February (even the horribly named Family Day), there is much merit in MacLeods recommendation. With the numbers of Second World War veterans dwindling it is vital something is put in place so their efforts are never forgotten and all veterans are prop- erly paid tribute. A provincial holiday may accomplish that. In the meantime buy a poppy, take in a Remembrance serv- ice or simply thank a veteran. Lest we forget. NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West 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 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 accept- ed 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 appli- cable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Letter to the editorDo we need a holiday for Remembrance Day? THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: ATHENAAward THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIALMEDIASPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Canadian CirculationAudit Board Member Canadian CommunityNewspapers AssociationOntario CommunityNewspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America Remembrance Day poem for Daddy The Oakville Beaver is a division of Many years have passed, Since World War I and II, The purpose was for freedom, For me and for you. Many lives were lost, That we recognize today. The soldiers deserve our respect, Our honours and our praise. Today we face another WAR, Which no one understands, Why cant we get along, Why cant we just hold hands? So wear your Poppy Proudly, Show dignity and respect. For the many lives weve lost LEST WE FORGET Pro Patria Daddy. ALEXANDRIA GRACE PARKER, AGE 9 Khadr cartoon was shameful Colonel Geoff Parker For many years now, Steve Nease has amused readers with his cartoon strip Pud. The strip's gentle humour lies in its little daily scenes of loving parents striving mightily to bring up their typical kids, who don't always see or comprehend the world quite the way their parents do. It's a typical middle-class family with a big dog, messy bedrooms, early morning hockey matches, two overstretched parents, and frequent chaos. Pud works because Nease has a warm and sympathetic take on how kids and adolescents are, as it were, half-baked people whose views on life are ever shifting and malleable. They try on many roles as they grow towards maturity. How depressing it is then to move one's eyes a few inches up from Pud to see Nease's shameful cartoon about Omar Khadr. Is this the same Nease who cre- ates Pud? The lack of sympathy or under- standing for Khadr is really quite astonishing. Omar Khadr's upbringing was everything Pud's is not. Born in Scarborough, he was raised in a fam- ily dedicated to a fanatical branch of religion with an extremely violent philosophy. From the age of 11 he was removed from Canada by his father and immersed in this closed world of ignorance, hatred and violence. It was the only world this young boy knew. What else could he possibly believe? If you have sectarian beliefs poured into your ears from the moment you are born, and you are denied an alternative version of real- ity, that is what you are going to believe. Why do you think all religions want you as young as possible? Think of all the twaddle that various religions imbed in the brains of the young and people lug around for the See Khadr page 8