www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, November 23, 2012 · 6 Opinion & Letters 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5566 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 905-631-6095 -- 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. The Oakville Beaver 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 OakvilleBeaver is a division of David Harvey Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief Daniel Baird Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor Riziero Vertolli Photography Director Sandy Pare Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production Manuel garcia Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Should Halton be financially responsible for housing the homeless of other municipalities? It's a tough question members of Regional council's health and social services committee pondered recently upon learning more than half of Halton's new applicants for affordable rental housing don't live here. According to a report on the findings of the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association, about 51 per cent of those on the Region's centralized waiting list for assisted rental housing come from outside of Halton. As of the end of 2011, there were 3,153 applicants on the centralized waiting list. "Quite frankly it isn't fair to Halton taxpayers," said Regional Chair Gary Carr, who fears the more Halton works to reduce its assisted rental housing waiting list -- while other municipalities ignore or lag behind in their own communities -- the more people from other areas of Ontario will apply in Halton. Carr is right. It's not fair -- especially to Halton's homeless who would theoretically find assisted housing much faster if all the non-Halton residents didn't find their way onto the local waiting list. Oakville has taken the approach of working directly with local providers of assisted housing to ensure local people with housing needs are getting helped first. Complicating matters is the fact that both the provincial and federal governments' present funding commitment to assisted rental housing expires on March 31, 2015 and neither is in a financially strong position to extend their support. We believe anyone without a roof over their head should be eligible for assisted housing programs. The question is tough, as yesterday (Nov. 22), Halton and communities across the country marked National Housing Day, a time that is meant to reflect on the importance of adequate housing in the lives of all people. According to Statistics Canada, about 501,699 people live in Halton and one in nine lives below the low-income level. The 2008 Housing Report for Halton Region shows about 1,200 Halton residents become homeless every year due to a lack of affordable housing. About 2,000 lowincome residents are waiting for housing. In one of the wealthiest towns in Canada, this is shocking. Habitat for Humanity Halton believes all people should have access to affordable housing no matter where they live. Since 2001, it has helped 65 people in 17 Halton families to own their own home, end their dependency on social housing subsidies and become taxpayers who contribute $1,500-$3,000 in annual property taxes. To learn more about its model home, visit www. habitathalton.ca. 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. Model home for all Letter to the editor Thanks and a Merry Christmas to all, Oakville Santa Claus came to town on Nov. 17 for a parade in his honour, as the imagination was filled with thoughts of Once Upon A Christmas. Once again, we had incredible weather and the theme saw new entrants and old favourites delight the crowds. The record crowds numbered in the tens of thousands, and we calculate close to 1,500 people were part of the parade itself. A huge thank you is extended to: · Everyone who came out to watch the parade -- it is hard to believe but the numbers of Oakville residents grew again this year lining the streets of Downtown Oakville and Kerr Village · The community groups, schools and businesses that worked so hard putting together the outstanding entries this year. Volunteers from many of these groups put in hundreds of hours to ensure their entry was entertaining for the children of Oakville. The quality of entries was certainly the best that Oakville has ever seen. Santa made note of those who put in that extra effort and has definitely included them on his "nice" list · The topsoil companies, garden centres, trucking firms, towing firms and others who donated use of a truck or flatbed to the parade entrants' -- we notice how shiny the cars and trucks were and know that the parade wouldn't be possible without your generosity · The close to 150 volunteers who came out very early Saturday morning to assist with the parade. These volunteers were wearing character and inflatable costumes, escorting the costumed characters through the parade, acting as parade marshalls, assisting with traffic or serving hot chocolate · The businesses and homeowners on Lakeshore Road, Felan Avenue and Robinson, Reynolds, Stewart and Kerr streets for their patience and understanding for the disruption to their businesses and homes that morning. See Kudos page 12 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@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Mye makes $100K for hospital Re: Mye donating next week's profits to new hospital, Oakville Beaver, Oct 19, 2012 On behalf of Mye Japanese Restaurant in Oakville, I'm excited to share the news we have reached our fundraising goal of $100,000 for the new Oakville hospital in celebration of our 25th anniversary. We hope that you'll help us share the wonderful news of this achievement and that it will inspire others to support their local charitable causes. If a small restaurant like ours can achieve this goal, I believe that many more could. Thank you. Mo Aoki, owner/executive chef, Mye Japanese Restaurant, Oakville Dog poop doesn't belong in GreenCart I would like to thank the woman who felt compelled to throw her dog poop bag into my GreenCart bin as she whisked by our home without even breaking stride. I don't own a dog so that was very generous of you to share the experience. The sad part is that you are anything but alone. Now, I know how all those little bags end up along the local walking trails. Technically though, animal excrement is not on the list of items allowed in the compost bucket. Shame on you. Frank Mallany, Oakville